The Green Flu
by Brit360Girl2K10
Summary: When the world is struck by The Green Flu, one survivor searches for her little boy with people she barely knows. Broken and lost, Louise travels to New Orleans in search of a rescue helicopter. Taking forever to write, sorry :S Character deaths.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

As we near the building, all I could think about was how much I envy the dead. They no longer felt the pain of having a Hunter pretty much rip you apart, or feeling the tongue of the Smoker slowly crush you're bones as he dangles you 10 feet of the ground.

But apart from the physical pain that all survivors of this epidemic had to endure, there was the emotional stuff that will never actually leave you, and won't be a mere flesh scar in the years to come, but it will be a pain that is with you forever. An example of this unendurable pain is losing all of those you hold closest to you, maybe even having to kill some of them to save yourself and others. Everyone in my group had lost at least one person they cared about to the 'flu', and we know that we will miss them forever, seeing as their deaths weren't at all fair, but, hell, life isn't fair, so why should our deaths be?

I know the man I loved had an unfair death.

He's the reason why, instead of hiding, I'm fighting these things until the day I die. Well, mostly...

"_Lou," I hear Ben say, bringing me out of my dream, "Louise, sweetheart, are you awake?"_

"_Yeah, I suppose I am," I groan, smiling at him, looking at him through half open eyes. My eyes open wider as I take in his appearance. "Ben? What's wrong, you don't look well at all."_

_His beautiful face looks pale and drawn, but panic is alive in his sparkling green eyes. "I've been attacked," he explains, "some lunatic rushed at me in the street, and he pushed me to the ground."_

"_Oh my God! Did he hurt you?" I ask, and my eyes search over his body. They rest on his right arm, which he is holding behind his back. He notices my staring and hides his injured arm further. I try to pull his arm around so I could look at it, but he gasps in pain, so I stop. "Sorry sorry sorry," I apologize, leaving his arm alone._

"_It's nothing. I swear," Ben says, but he holds his arm out and shows me the wound. I gasp. "Don't be worried, the guy probably just fought dirty."_

_His arm was covered in blood, all seeping from a bite that was too small to be an animal bite, but too deep to be done by human teeth. I go to tell him to call the police, but he stops me. "There are members of CEDA outside, they got the guy off me, and he's now in been locked up somewhere for being a complete psycho," he laughs, but he sounds like he's in pain. "Hey, take Toby to the medicine store and go get me something for the pain. Maybe bandages as well, to stop the bleeding," he adds, and he pulls me out of bed with his good arm._

"_I think you should go to the hospital with that arm," I say, but he ignores me, and pulls out some clothes from the wardrobe. "Well, I'm not taking Toby with me," I say. I see Ben freeze, but I continue. "What if another lunatic attacks me? CEDA can't follow us both around, protecting us from people, like the one who attacked yo-"_

"_TAKE HIM WITH YOU!" Ben yells as he whips around and grasps my wrists in his clammy hands. I wince at how close he is, at how hard he's grabbing my wrists. "IT'S SAFER FOR HIM OUT THERE!" Ben releases me, and turns back round, pulling out clothes faster than before. I'm silent, trying to hold back tears of fright. Ben truly looked like an animal when he turned around. He sighs and turns back around, "I'm sorry, it's just... Something's happening, and... I don't think Toby's safe around me anymore," Ben turns back around and pulls a pistol out of one of the drawers. "Here," he hands me the gun. I stare at it, wide-eyed, for a moment, "take it. If anyone tries to hurt either of you, you are to shoot. Shoot until you feel safe."_

_I shake my head. "I can't," I sob, "not with Toby there. I can't let him see his Mummy kill a person. What's that going to do for him?"_

"_Take the Goddamn pistol!" Ben yelled back at me_

"_FINE! I'll take the bloody gun!" I cried, suddenly furious, "but I'm not gonna use it if Toby's with me."_

"_Leave him then. Risk your son's life!"_

"_When I come back, you can pack up your stuff," I hiss. "I don't want you anywhere near us anymore."_

_Ben suddenly lost the little colour left in his face and he stared at me in disbelief. He began to mutter random things. "But I'm not gonna see you... we can't leave it... But I love..." He sighs before closing his eyes. I see a single tear slide down his cheek. "Fine, then. I- I love you though, Louise. Never forget that, and whatever happens whilst you're gone- I'm sorry."_

_I almost kiss him, but my stubborn side stops me, and I leave without a word. There is no way in hell that I'm getting him his medicine now. I just need to be out of the house. Give him time to pack._

_I see Toby standing in the doorway, looking up at me with his big blue eyes questioningly. "Mommy, where are you going?" He asks._

"_I'll be home soon sweetie," I say, walking over to him, planting a kiss on his cheek. "Just do as Daddy says, and when I come back, you can go to your friend's house, okay?"_

_Toby just nods and I know he knows something's wrong._

_I leave the house without saying goodbye to Ben, and at once, I notice that I was right not to have Toby with me. Chaos is the only word I can use to describe it. There are people everywhere in hazmat suits, ushering people into trucks and shouting things like: "Bring all valuable possessions. I repeat: We are evacuating __everybody__. No one is to remain in town. Bring your families, call relatives; we are taking you all to safety!"_

_I head off down the streets, searching for somebody to tell me what's going on. I see my neighbour, Mr Douglas, standing at his gate, shaking his head at a CEDA official. The official doesn't like what he's saying and begins to yell. "Sir, please, this is for your own good. Don't you want to live? For your family."_

_Mr Douglas just stares him down before he starts talking again. The CEDA guy eventually leaves and I approach Mr Douglas. "What's going on?" I ask him. Without looking at me, Mr Douglas just shakes his head._

"_I dunno," he sighs. "Some damn flu apparently. Not much to start evacing everyone, is it? I reckon there's more to this 'flu' than they're letting on."_

_I nod and look away, not really listening to Mr Douglas. I stare down the street and see a huge crowd of people. "I wonder what's going on down there," I say, partly to myself, but Mr Douglas answers anyway._

"_Probably someone else refusing to go, but putting up a more interesting fight."_

_I hear a woman scream, and I run off down the road towards the gathering. I skid to a halt at the back of the crowd, and gently push my way through the people so I could see what was going on. A CEDA worker was trying his hardest to push people away from a man, who was being held back by two other men in hazmat suits in the centre of the circle. The man didn't look normal. His eyes were a very deep yellow, and his skin was very grey, like the colour of a dead body. He was randomly crying out and he was thrashing around a lot._

"_Ladies and gentlemen, please back away from the infected individual. We need to take him away to our specialist camps, so we can contain him safely until he is ridden of the Green Flu."_

_I start to leave, thinking it's better if I obey the guys who think they're saving us, and many join me, but then we hear a pained yell, and we all turn around. The infected man had bit one of the guys who had been holding onto him. His mouth was latched onto his arm, and blood was oozing out of the bite. The others were trying to get the man off him, but he wasn't moving._

"_Get this freaking thing off my arm!" the man cries, and then one of his helpers lifted up a gun and positioned it at the head of the man. I looked away, but my ears couldn't escape the sound of the gunshot and the splatter of blood. I covered my nose against the smell._

_The injured worker was moaning in pain, and his colleagues were arguing over something, and I could only make out small segments of conversation._

"_He was given the vaccine-"_

"_The vaccine was FAKE! It was just to get us to go out into this world-"_

"_It was fake? What the hell! We're completely unprotected by this thing!"_

"_Don't worry. It's been proven some people are immune to it. Maybe we're one of the few lucky people who are."_

"_Good point, but-"_

"_But nothing. She's listening to us," The workers turn to look at me, and I turn around and walk away, severely shaken about what happened. I was glad Toby didn't see what happened._

_Wait. Wasn't Ben bitten this morning? I began to run back to the house. Of course that's why he wanted us both out of the house. So we could survive. That's why he gave me the gun. He wanted me to kill him when I got back._

_I couldn't though. I loved Ben. But if he's hurt Toby... I have no doubt that I will kill Ben. _

_I race off home, pushing past all the CEDA workers pleading with me to get on the truck. I tell them where to go, and finally reach the front door of my house_

_I hesitated at the front door, toying whether to call someone from CEDA to deal with Ben, but I realise Ben wanted to be put to rest by someone who knew him and would remember who he was before everything happened. _

_I took a deep breath and entered the house._

"_Ben?" I called into the dark house. Everything was just as I'd left it, but all the warmth in the house had left, leaving it a ghost of the family home it used to be. I heard soft groans from upstairs, and lifted up the gun, preparing myself for the task I was about to do._

"_Ben? Toby?" I call again into the house. Only groans reply. No Toby. Oh, God, what if I'm too late and Ben has killed him. Even worse, what if he's one of those things, and if I don't kill him, CEDA will. I begin to have all the emotions fill me up; spilling out of me in sobs and tears. I can't kill my baby, but I can't let him be killed by some stranger. It's like agreeing to the murder of my child. It's morally wrong._

_I slowly began my ascent to torture: killing someone who has been there for me through thick and thin. Every step made a creak that made me wince in the silence of the house. I knew things were only going slow because I was dreading this moment, and time seemed to be against me, probably making it more torturous for me. Every breath hurt, and every heartbeat was painful, killing me. I was sorely tempted to take my own life, then and there, but the thought of leaving Toby was almost as painful as the thought of killing him. I finally reached the top of the stairs, and I enter my bedroom first, searching for Ben. The room is trashed, showing that Ben must have been in a struggle when he finally lost his hold on this life. Blood pools in certain places, and crimson hand prints have appeared on the wall, leading out of the room._

_I hear the moans coming from further down the hall, and I follow them, slowly at first, but realising they came from Toby's bedroom made me speed up, and suddenly all I could think of was how I was going to kill Ben._

_I pushed open the bedroom door slightly, and saw a large figure standing in the centre of the room, swaying gently, emitting soft groans. I aimed the gun at the back of his head, and prepared to shoot, when Ben turned around._

_I gasped and stumbled backwards, whipping my arm out of the way in a flash, dodging the onslaught of his teeth. I backed away as he advanced on me, crying out unintelligibly, but he was too fast, and I tripped at the abrupt closeness of him. He was going to kill me. I raised the gun and aimed square between his eyes. "I love you," I whispered, before pulling the trigger. The creature fell back and landed with a thud on the ground. I sat there for a while, looking at the body and the pool of blood that slowly grew larger and larger until the blood was on the bottom of my shoes. I stood up in a daze, and began walking to the bathroom to clear my face up._

_The bathroom is in more of a mess than the bedroom was, and on one of the mirrors, written in blood, was the message 'TOBY NOT HOME'. I read the message over and over in my head, trying to feel something other than the numbness that seeped between my bones and ran through my entire body. Toby wasn't around when his father turned, but had left the house. He can't have gone far, unless he got on the truck._

_I ran out the room, past the body of my fianc__é__, down the stairs and outside, desperate to get on a truck or to find someone who could help. But there was complete silence outside. Not a single person remained, and all the trucks were gone._

"_No," I whisper. "Please! Somebody! I need to find my son! I need help!" I call out into the empty streets._

_I collapse on the floor, and stay hunched over for a while, quietly crying to myself, wishing someone will come for me. I hear footsteps, and I look up, expecting another infected person to come and attack me._

"_Louise? What're you still doin' here? I thought you'd have left with Ben and you're son," Mr Douglas says, looking down at me with pity in his eyes. I look at him, grateful to see a friendly face._

"_Ben's dead," I say, and my voice cracks from the endless tears that pour from my eyes, "and Toby's missing. Please, help me find him."_

_Mr Douglas just looks at me for a while, trying to think of a worthy excuse not to save an innocent child. He sighs and holds out a hand. "Well, I saw him get on the truck with that friend of yours... I forget her name, but if we can get you to an evacuation centre, then I'm positive you'll find him when they take you wherever they take the people smart enough to get on the trucks." I grasp his rough old hand and he lifts me to my feet._

_Then we headed down the road, ready for a long walk that wouldn't be easy for us at all._

I had became a 'survivor' simply by my fiancé protecting me, and I know he'd have preferred it much more if I'd hopped on one of the trucks and left for one of those CEDA camps that have been set up to hold all of the smart survivors up until the last of the infected dies out, or they find a cure. But that could tell decades, and I can't wait that long to see if my child has survived or not.

But I wasn't alone in my search, as Mr Douglas, although he's old and a bit of a loner, has stuck with me the whole way. He's quite handy with a gun as well, and taught us how to use the guns efficiently. He's now like a father figure to me, and the others and I look up to him and treat him with the respect a crew might give to their captain.

Then there's Molly, a nineteen year old girl who was out with her boyfriend when this struck, so she had no one to tell her that they were getting evacuated from their town, so when her boyfriend chased her back home, looking unlike himself, she was confused why no one came out to help her. Then Mr Douglas blew a hole in her boyfriend's stomach, which, understandably, Molly wasn't too happy about, but when it was all explained to her, she forgave him pretty quickly. I knew Moll because she used to babysit Toby until she decided that she couldn't stand having half of her Saturdays taken up. In her words it was a "crappy way to spend the weekend". Gorgeous, funny and rather smart, Molly was the most popular girl at school, and all the boys wanted her, but she was always a bit of a child, and now she's had to grow up pretty fast. At first she was opposed to killing zombies, but when one of them tackled me to the ground, she had to face her fears. She had pretty good aim as well, which shocked me, because she had quite shaky hands when she shot the zombie off me. But she prefers using things that don't have triggers and barrels, stuff like baseball bats-which are very common- and, rarer, ninja swords.

Then there was Kyle, a seventeen year old who I had never met before the infection hit. I adore Kyle, and he's just like a little brother to me. He runs off a lot though, because he thinks he's the best fighter in the group. He's not. He tries to be graceful and quick, but he will always end up alerting the Horde one way or another, and then we have to count on him to get us out if the place we're in quickly. We count on Kyle because he has some way of finding the nearest exit. He's the genius in that sense, and he's always got a plan. But he needs to always have plans to get us out of a mess because he's the one who's getting us into them.

Like right now, Kyle has broken away from the group and is chasing after a Jockey that has just tried to jump on Molly. He is making random shots at him, and is mimicking his annoying laughter.

"HAHA! Look at the little bastard run!" He laughs, about to turn round the corner. I chase after him, running as fast as my tired legs could carry me.

"Kyle!" I cry, grabbing him just as he rounds the corner. He yelps as I drag him back, muttering angrily at his stupidity. "You could have gotten yourself killed! There could be all sorts round there. What would you have done if that Jockey was leading you towards a bloody Witch, and you were laughing too much to even hear her crying?" I hissed at him.

Kyle's face went pale and he looked frightened, but he regained his composure and grinned. "I'd give that bitch somethin' to cry about."

I yanked the collar of his shirt back, and he choked a little. "Language," I snarled.

We approached Molly and Mr Douglas, who was both chuckling at Kyle's shocked expression at being slightly strangled by his own shirt.

"Boy," Mr Douglas laughed, hitting the back of Kyle's head lightly," you're gonna be the death of me."

Kyle rubbed the back of his head and grinned at Mr Douglas, not saying a word. I rolled my eyes at his apparent lack of noticing the danger that the situation could have caused. "You are all just pains in the arse. I try my hardest to keep everyone safe, but you just don't give a shit do you?"

Everyone is silent, staring at their feet. I sigh and lead the way into the building. I approach the entrance, and I look up at the large sign that is placed right above the doors.

"The Vannah," I read out-loud, "four-star hotel. Hm, do you think this'll do?" I ask. I look up at the setting sun and decide for the group. I open the door, and usher everyone inside, glancing around making sure no zombies were approaching. The last thing we needed was to fight off a freaking Horde.

I followed the group inside, locking the door behind me, and began moving the furniture in front of the door. Mr Douglas and Molly helped me, but Kyle searched for something to eat in the cupboards. He made a disappointed sigh as he opened each cupboard, finding absolutely nothing there. He looked behind the desk, and groaned.

"So, I'm guessin' we ain't eatin' nothin', then?" Molly asked, turning large, sad chocolate eyes towards Kyle.

Kyle fidgeted nervously, like he always did when Molly spoke to him. He had fancied her since the day they met, and Molly knew that, but she didn't want to embarrass Kyle, so she played dumb. "Uh, well..." he struggled to get his words out, so I decided to save him by going over and looking behind the desk.

"Why did you sound so unhappy? There's food here," There's a loaf of bread and some cheese, the only things left behind by the other survivors. Mr Douglas hands me his pocket knife, and I cut the cheese, careful not to use it all so any other survivors who come this way can eat something. I make very poor sandwiches and hand them out to the group. I hear Kyle grumble and I roll my eyes. He can't stop complaining about the food, even though he should be grateful there's food at all.

Once we were all fed and watered enough to get us through another day, we all settled down for sleep.

"Guys, try and get some rest, okay, 'cos we're gonna fight our way up to the roof tomorrow, first thing. We have to make this one. It's one of last centres in Savannah," I hear snores before I even finish speaking. I close my eyes and drift off, knowing that after tomorrow, I never have to kill another person ever again.


	2. Chapter 2

**I am actually having fun writing these. I adore Left 4 Dead 2 (best game on Xbox 360) and I love Ellis even more! Okay, in this chapter we find out a bit more about the infection, and stuff like that. I got all my info about the place names- like the name of the hotel in chapter 1- from the l4d wiki (I know, geeky), because I haven't got a clue what hotels in Savannah are called **** Hope you enjoy chapter 2.**

Chapter 2

"Miss," an unfamiliar voice urges, "Miss, please wake up!"

I groan and open my eyes, taking in the sunlight. I blink a few times and stare at the person making the noise.

A young man, probably around my age, stares at me with large blue eyes that shine with curiosity and relief. The guy sighs, his perfect full lips dragging into a perfect smile that made his perfect face even more... perfect.

"Hey, guys," he calls, turning to face people who were behind me. I frown at the fact he's not focusing on me, and sit up. I rub my eyes, cleaning the sleep out of them. I start to wonder why the sunlight hurts my eyes so much when it's this early. It should still be rising...

"Shit!" I jump up out of the sleeping bag, causing The Perfect Man to jump. He holds out arms to restrain me, but I shrug out of his grasp. I turn to face the rest of my group, who were still asleep, being shoved and poked and yelled at by three other strangers. "Guys, if you don't get your arses out of bed, I am going to make sure _you _kill the next Witch we come across."

At that, Kyle, who was "sleeping" soundly until that moment, jumps up, causing the dark-skinned girl who was trying to wake him to jump. She frowned at the fact she didn't need to yell so much and turns to help a man in an off-white suit wake up Molly, who was a really heavy sleeper.

I go to wake up Mr Douglas, who was snoring loudly, thinking about the gorgeous blue eyed boy who was helping the woman and the Suit to wake up Molly.

I stand next to a large black man who is shaking Mr Douglas, trying to get him to wake up. He sighs, exasperated, and turns to me for help. I smile and lean over Mr Douglas.

"Hey, Douglas," I whisper sweetly, and I lightly shake his shoulders. He doesn't react, so I turn my head and smile at the strange man who is watching my every move intently. He smiles back, and I push my head even further towards Mr Douglas so that my lips are nearly pressed to his ear "MR DOUGLAS!"I yell into the old man's ear. Mr Douglas' eyes snap open and he lets out a startled yell.

"What?" Mr Douglas looks around the room, taking in the appearances of these complete strangers. "Who the hell are these people?"

"I don't know, but we have to get going," I turn away from Douglas and grab my bottle of water of the counter. I head towards Molly, removing the bottle lid as I approach her still sleeping form. I push past the strangers and pour the water onto Molly's face. She splutters, her golden blonde hair turning dark as water drenches it. "Good, now everyone's awake, we'd best get going." I say over the sound of sniggers and Molly's coughs.

"Excuse me, but where are you goin'" the large black man asks, placing a hand on my shoulder.

"We're going to catch the helicopter that will be leaving _very _soon to a camp that is holding the survivors up until they know what to do with them. I'm hoping to find someone there," I say, trying not to be impolite and run away from the guy.

"Really? 'Cos we're headin' that way, too," the girl says, smiling kindly at me.

I groan inwardly at these other survivors. I can't deal with having to help these people as well. They'll just slow me down. I can't miss this helicopter. I just _can't_.

"Hey do you mind if we come with you guys?" The perfect guy says, and I feel my cheeks warm up.

"I...um..." Why am I trying to speak to him? I can't even _think_ straight, let alone talk to him.

"Listen, kid, if the girl is trying to get somewhere fast, we're slowin' her down," the Suit says, "besides, no one wants _your _annoying ass around here anyhow."

"No, you can come," I say, and I can't believe I actually agreed to having these people tag along. I curse my brain for letting my mouth loose.

"Cool, do you mind if we eat first," the big guy says.

"No," I snap. "We have no time. I can't miss this helicopter."

The man looks at me, a little hurt, but he seems to understand, and he leads the way out the safe room.

I start hearing gunshots, and I pull my pistol out. I never like killing these zombies; because they're really just people, and they have friends and family, and the only reason they're like this is because they got a disease. It makes me glad that children can't survive the infection, so they wouldn't have to live through being mindless creatures that can't control themselves. Their bodies would simply shut down when the infection struck, thus adding more to the fear that lives inside all parents that their children will die if bitten.

I remembered what those CEDA workers had told us about some people are immune to The Green Flu-as it was being called by the world- and it seemed to be the case when it came to Molly, Mr Douglas, Kyle and I, as each one of us has been bitten by the zombies, but we've never changed. I hope the immunity runs through the mother's side of the family, because immune children only get minor illnesses when bitten instead of dying, which everyone sees as being a happy alternative, and if I'm immune, that means Toby will be immune as well.

I aim the gun at a zombie who is fast approaching the big guy and, with all the skill that I've gathered during the outbreak, I shot him, right in the temple, from a good 10 foot distance. I was impressed, but I instantly feel disgusted at myself for feeling so proud of a kill.

"Nice shot!" The guy in the suit complimented, and I start to think '_what a nice guy'_, when he adds, "You can shoot, you are gorgeous, and, I bet 10 bucks that you are an animal in the sack." He winks, and I feel my face crumple in repulsion. I shudder, feeling slightly sick. Not that this guy hasn't got some... rough, rugged handsomeness to him. It's just... Ew... He just tried to see of I'd... Ew.

Molly, who'd overheard what he had said, burst into hysterics. I shudder again, and move away from the creepy guy.

We pass by the front desk, and I pick up what seems to be a bottle of... Wait... It can't be..._ Puke?_

I start to retch at the smell, and I know that it is puke, but not just any puke. Boomer puke. Who the hell decided it would be better to put the vomit of a lard-arse zombie into a glass jar? A lunatic, apparently...

Mr Douglas passes me, and he takes a look at the jar in my hand. "What the-?"

"That's just what I was thinking. It's Boomer vomit. Not right!" I exclaim.

Mr Douglas takes the bottle from me and examines it carefully. His eyes suddenly light up, and he says, "I know what we do with this shit." And he runs off to catch up to the others.

I chase after him, wondering why he's the only one who has a bloody clue about what the Boomer bile is for. I enter the room to see the cute guy and the girl surrounded by zombies, which all snap and claw and kick at them, trying to harm them. Panic sweeps over me and I wonder why no one is doing anything. I then turn to see Mr Douglas aim the puke at the other side of the room. He hurls it, and the bottle shatters upon impact with the wall, the puke dripping to the floor and sticking to the air. I wrinkle my nose against the smell, and I wonder what the bloody point was in all that.

Then zombies were surrounding the wall, killing each other to get to the part of the room stinking of Boomer vomit. I turn to see Mr Perfect and the Girl completely free of zombies, and looking a little worse for wear. Scratches run up and down their arms and on their faces, and Mr Perfect's beautiful mouth is gushing blood. I rush to the pair, taking out my bandages.

"Oh my God, are you okay?" I ask the guy as he spits out a gob of blood.

"Yeah," he says, his voice marred by the fact his mouth is full of blood, "the lady accidently hit me in the mouth, and I think I split my lip. But I'm fine!" He quickly adds, seeing the Girl's face fall. "No serious harm done. Gonna take a lot more th'n tha' to hurt me, darlin'."

The girl smiles again, still looking a little unsure, and I feel an unwelcome urge to smack her in that smiling mouth of hers, but I conquer the urge with thinking about how sweet he was to her when she looked upset. He would be a great role-model for Toby-

Wait! Did I really start thinking about him as a replacement for Ben? What is the infection doing to me? I'm still grieving the loss of Ben. I can't fall in love again. Ben was the love of my life, wasn't he?

I didn't have time to dwell on the thought, as the rest of the group had began to move on, climbing up a flight of stairs, being very wary of oncoming Hordes that may come our way. I kept listening for one of the Specials, because I had qualms that the new people hadn't encountered them yet.

"Hey, Fancy Man, don't you think the Jockey is right funny little sonuvabitch?" I heard Kyle yell.

"I dunno... What's a Jockey?" The Creepy Suit Guy asked, panting slightly, showing he wasn't in the best of health. I couldn't blame him though. Climbing these stairs would have been hard enough if it wasn't for the fact that some part of the building was on fire, causing the smoke to travel down the stairs. A few times I turn to kill a smoker that was going to kill us if I didn't act fast enough, only to see Mr Douglas or the Big Guy bent over, coughing and wheezing.

"Aw, man, you don't know what a Jockey is? They're the funniest zombie you'll see. They have this real annoyin' laugh that is so fun to copy," Kyle laughs, throwing his head back.

"Awesome," I hear the Suit mutter sarcastically, and I feel my hand twitch to just smack his stupid, perverted mouth of his face, but I only just overcome the urge by grasping the side of my blood-stained, dirt-encrusted shirt as tight as I can with my fingers, digging my broken nails into the fabric.

"How many flights left?" Mr Douglas gasps. I turn to see him clutching his side, breathing heavily.

I glance at a sign that says Floor 22, and has the list of floors on it. I read a piece of paper that has been stuck over the word roof. 'EVACUATION CENTRE'. The floor beneath that one is floor 29. "Sorry, Mr Douglas. We still have eight more flights to go up."

"Who the hell... Puts an Evac station... Up thirty flights of Goddamn stairs?" I hear the big guy wheeze.

"C'mon, Coach..." Suit laughs, huffing with the effort of laughing and climbing a mountain of stairs. "Maybe the helicopter... Maybe it's made of chocolate..."

Coach, as he was referred to by the Suit, just glares at him. I hear Molly giggle as she passes the Suit. I shake my head, knowing that Molly will get what she wants when it comes to guys, and if she's crushing on that arsehole, then we're all in for trouble.

I heave a sigh of relief as we arrive at Floor 29, and I hear the pleasant sound of helicopter blades whirring and voices of happy-ish people. I practically run up the corridor, a smile very nearly forming on my face. I was going to see Toby again. I pushed past the people in my way and ran up the small flight of stairs that was between me and my happiness. I threw open the emergency doors, hoping to see a free helicopter, waiting there for us.

I feel my heart plummet to the ground, somewhere near my feet, as I watch the helicopter take off. I wave my arms in a futile attempt to get them to come back, but they don't. I feel tears spring to my eyes.

"Hello? Anyone here?" I hear the cute guy ask no one.

"Ain't they supposed to be the ones rescuin' us?" I hear Coach ask, finally making his way through the door in time to see the helicopter disappear. Mr Douglas follows, his eyes searching the roof for a sign of a helicopter. His eyes rest on me, full of sorrow and sympathy. He approaches me, as do Molly and Kyle. And they all wrap their arms around me, trying to soothe me. I feel hot tears slide down my cheeks, taking off the ash that the smoke had formed off my face as they pass.

"Toby?" I whine, wishing my son was in my arms instead of Mr Douglas. I feel an extra hand grab my wrist comfortingly, an unfamiliar hand. I look in the direction of the person and smile at the girl, who seems to have some idea why I'm so devastated by missing the helicopter. My friends let go of me, but another person wraps a muscled arm around my shoulders, hugging me tightly. I look up and see the cute guy looking down at me, smiling gently, caringly. I feel my broken heart heal a bit, glad that I have this sweet, sensitive guy around, caring for me. Even though he might just be being friendly, I think I see something _more_ than that in his eyes. I pull away from him and sit on a desk which is covered in stuff that is covered by a large sheet of fabric

"What are we gonna do?" I hear Kyle ask. For the first time since we shot his best friend off of him, Kyle was quiet. It broke my heart again to hear him so unsure, and I pull my arms around his shoulders, hugging him tight.

"I say we give up!" Arse-wipe cries, "We have nothing. We don't know where the next Evac station is... I don't care if I die. I have nothing to live for anyway," he looks around, waiting for someone to agree.

"I say we keep movin'," Coach says, throwing a pointed glare at the Suit.

"Yeah," the girl says, smiling at me again. "The helicopter must be headin' somewhere near here to pick up some more survivors. We'll head there."

"It looks like it's headin' to the mall across town." Coach says.

I feel a warm feeling that these people seem to understand how important this is to me, and they want to help me, even if it's only an idea over what it's about.

"Well, I don't mean to be a kill-joy or anything, but I'm out of ammo." I hear Kyle say, throwing his gun to the floor.

Everyone checked their guns, and we noticed that our guns were empty as well. I placed my hands down firmly on the table in frustration. I feel my hand hit something sharp, "ah," I whisper, looking at the small bead of blood oozing out of the small cut.

I look at the place where I placed my hand, to see an axe head poking out from underneath the fabric. "What the...?" I mutter, and I pull the cloth off the table. About three guns clattered to the floor, all fully loaded. My eyes widened as I took in the weapons that lay, spread out, along the table.

"Oh my God!" Molly gasps, and she picks up a crowbar. Suit picks one up as well.

"I can't wait to find a crate!" I hear him exclaim, taking an experimental swing with the weapon.  
I pick up a pistol and weigh it in my palm. Nice easy weight."Guys there's enough here for you to take two pistols."

"Hell yeah, I'm goin' with two pistols," Mr Perfect smiles and picks up one of the guns that fell to the ground.

"Has everyone got their weapons? Good, that's decided. Moving on: I think this building's on fire. Sooo...I'd like to leave it." The Suit says, and I agree with him.

"C'mon people, let's get those arses moving! We can't miss this one!"

Everyone makest their way off the roof, and with one final look at the view of the destroyed city, I follow them.

**Please review, it'll make me **** if you do. I will be introducing more of the special infected next chapter, which should be up soon. I just wanted to keep the essence of the survivors (Ellis, Coach, Nick and Rochelle) knowing nothing about the specials until they start fighting their way out of the hotel. BTW I need to say I was getting annoyed with having to use nicknames for the survivors, because I do feel like I'm being too repetitive. Sorry if it annoyed you as well.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Dead Centre- Hotel

We begin to run down the stairs, coughing as we breathed in the smoke that weaved in and out of the air. I hear the rough growling of a Hunter, snarling and letting out soft cries. I stop in my tracks, freezing in fear. The Hunter is where all my fears lie.

"That's not a happy sound..." I hear the cute guy whisper, and underneath his usual happy exterior, I hear slight fear flow through his voice.

Coach throws open the door and I hear the long shriek of the Hunter. Molly and Kyle back away from the door, aiming at the Hunter.

"Holy shit! A Hunter!" I cry.

"So that's a Hunter, huh? What's it gonna do? Take a _jog_ at me?" The Suit laughs. The Hunter lets out a shrill cry, before pouncing.

I hear Suit yell out as the Hunter lands on him, pinning him to the ground. "GET IT! GET IT!" He cries as the Hunter starts slashing his claws along his chest, making long rips in the shirt. Blood starts to pool to the surface and the Suit starts yelling out in pain. Molly approaches the two quickly, and takes a swing at the back of the Hunter's head with the crowbar. The Hunter lets out a pained yelp as the sharp points of the weapon penetrate the skin, breaking through his skull, before the creature dies, falling off the panting body.

"Are you okay?" Molly asks, kneeling down beside the Suit, taking out her medkit, "here, take off your shirt." The Suit unbuttons his blue shirt, which has large shreds of fabric torn off, and reveals the long gashes down his front. They look nasty, but I remember when I got attacked by a Hunter, and the thing had practically split my sides, and I had to be very careful, or I would tear the stitches that held me together. The most he would need would be a stitch in the deepest cut, and just bandages around his chest. "Lou?" Molly asks, holding up the needle and thread, unsure what to do.

I join Molly's side, taking the equipment off her. I got out the antiseptic and the wipes, using my medical training to know what to do. I liberally douse the wipe with the liquid, and the Suit smells the alcoholic sent to it and holds his breath as I run the wipe up and down the wounds, cleaning them. "You're immune, right?" I ask, noticing the slightly darker blood-the blood of the hunter- mingling with the human blood.

"Yeah, I think so... My ex-wife changed when she came over, begging me for forgiveness, and the bitch bit me! But I had no trouble blowing her brains out... She cheated on me, she stole my car... It was the least I could do," the Suit chuckled, not noticing my wince at the thought of 'blowing the brains' out of someone you previously cared so much about. I pick the needle and thread up again, and I hold the needle over the flame of my cigarette lighter, waiting for the needle to heat up. I then begin to slowly stitch him up. I hear a few gunshots go off, glad that I wasn't jumpy. I pull harder on the thread as I finish. I grab the bandages and help him up, wrapping them around his torso.

"Maybe next time, don't piss off the Specials," I smile as he shrugs on his shirt again, looking a little more healthy without a large gaping hole in his chest.

"You're quite good at that? You a doctor or a nurse or something?" He asks, putting his jacket back on.

"I did medical training before I got pregnant," I said, packing away the materials. I bit my lip, realising I had just told him something I hadn't intended on telling anyone else.

"You have a kid?" He asks. I just nod and walk away from him, not wanting to go any further into the subject.

I look down the corridor, but I can't find anyone. I start to panic until I hear voices in the room to my right. I enter the room, followed by the Suit. I see a pile of dead infected bodies on the floor, and I realise they'd been doing a spot of..._ cleaning up_ before we got here. They are gathered around a table were a large map was spread along the top, crosses and circles were scattered over it, the majority of which were the crosses, which over run the circles 10:1.

"What does this mean?" Molly presses her dainty finger to a large circle that was the largest. 'New Orleans' was in the centre of the circle.

"It looks like that's the last remaining evacuation centre in the South," Coach says, looking a little saddened by the thought.

"New Orleans?" I ask, and I feel my legs give way beneath me. "We'll never get there! We won't ever make it out alive!" I begin to sob, and I feel their eyes on me, but I don't stop. I let the tears pour, and I can only just hear their comforting words.

"It's okay..."  
"We'll make it..."

"Of course we'll live..."

"Don't cry, Lou..."

"Hey, ma'am, please stop cryin', we'll get you to New Orleans. I promise." I look up from my hands to see the cute guy kneeling in front of me, a small, reassuring smile on his face. I stop crying and smile back-the first actual smile since the last time I saw human Ben-, knowing I look like a mess, but he just keeps smiling. He stands back up and helps me to my feet, and gives me a warm hug. I regain my composure, and turn to face everyone else.

"Okay, people," I say, showing them that I am back to being my old self. "I think the mall will still be used as an evac centre, so we should try there, but if that fails, we are gonna go to New Orleans. So we'd best get going, or we won't ever get there."

I march out the room, followed by the cute guy and the rest of the group. I look inside the different rooms, searching for more things. I open one door to see a group of infected Hazmat guys.

"Hm, I'm guessin' those suits don't stop bites," the Suit says, hitting one with the crowbar. I hear the sound of air being let out of the suit. Something rolls from the body and into my foot, I look down, expecting to see a severed limb or something, but it's another Bile Bomb. At least I know where they're coming from. I pick it up and shove it in my pocket, so the vivid green liquid is just visible poking over the top of my jeans.

I see Molly, who is tiptoeing around the bodies, trying not to stand on one, pick up a small bottle of pills. She reads the label out loud. "_'Fast acting pain medication. Gives temporary relief to all pains'_," she looks over to Kyle and grins, "hey, Ky, these pills will get rid of you for a couple of minutes." Kyle just smiles, dazed.

I hear the girl cry out "_Ohmigod!_" from the room next door, and I leg it into the room, to find her holding a Magnum. She turns round and exclaims "I am in _love_ with this gun!"

I roll my eyes and breathe a sigh of relief. She pulls another one out of the draw and throws it at me. I inspect the gun, and I can see why she loves it. It's powerful and looks much better than the normal pistols.

"C'mon, people, we've had a nose around, and we found some pretty cool stuff," I look at Molly, who's holding a cricket bat, and at Coach, who is wielding a freaking chainsaw, "but we need to keep moving."

We get to the elevators, deciding it'd be easier on Coach and Mr Douglas if we took them instead of the stairs. Kyle presses the button, but nothing happens. He pounds his finger against the button repeatedly, but still nothing happens. "Dammit! The elevator's out!" the Suit yells out, exasperated.

"So, we're gonna have to go down some more stairs?" Mr Douglas asks me, his eyes sad.

I nod, patting him on the shoulder, and I head towards the right hallway in time to see a stack of furniture crash through the door, ablaze. "SHIT!" I jump, and I watch as our path is obstructed. This day's just going from bad to worse.

"Woah, this building's burning up fast... Let's find another way, this suit's flammable," the suit says, and he heads into the maintenance closet. We follow him in, and there's a full length window leading out onto a ledge. "Get out to the ledge!" He orders, breaking the glass with his crowbar.

He walks out onto the ledge first, taking steady, slow steps, pushing a few zombies off as he moves. I follow him, hoping a Charger doesn't make his appearance. "Is now a really bad time to tell you I'm afraid of heights?" I say to the Suit, squeezing my eyes tight shut, but then realising it is a bad idea in case I put my foot in the wrong place. I open my eyes again and look at the Cute guy, focusing on him.

"Well, sweetheart, it's a zombie apocalypse, so it's about time you face your fears," the Suit says, breaking another window and going inside the room. I follow him in, taking a deep sigh of relief as I feel the carpet beneath my feet. But my relief is short lived as I hear high-pitched laughter coming from the room. I hold my breath, and I hear the girl whisper "I hear a- what did you call it?- A Jockey?"

I take a deep breath and enter the bathroom. I see the Jockey, but before I get a chance to kill it or call for help, it latches itself on my head. It starts dragging me onto the ledge, and I cry out for help, but the cry is muffled by the putrid hand that the Jockey has secured around my mouth. I resist the Jockey's control for a while, but I start to feel weak from the lack of air getting into my body.

Then the floor is gone from beneath me.

I hold on for dear life on to the ledge, but several zombies are slowly kicking my hands away. "Help!" I scream, as my left hand slips. I can fear my right hand losing grip.

"It's okay, I got you," Cute guy says, lifting me back up onto the ledge. I collapse against his chest and thank him, holding on to him tightly. He guides me back to the room, and I let go, listening for another Jockey.

"Okay, now that's over, I think we should leave before another Jockey comes along, because contrary to what Kyle says, I find them the most unfunny thing on this Goddamn planet," Suit says, and I see Kyle's face redden in embarrassment.

I lead the way down the stairs again, and I look down the flight of stairs to see a load of furniture on fire, blocking our way. "What the hell? That wasn't there before." I cried, feeling a little freaked out.

I look at the group of people in front of me, and I see Molly and the other girl look at their feet. "We kinda... blocked the way up, 'cause we thought we wouldn't need to come back down, and it stopped the zombies from getting us... Sorry," the girl says.

I groan, and push open the door, seeing a long corridor ahead of us. I run down the corridor, killing zombies as I go, feeling the sweltering heat of the fire that is roaring behind the closed doors. Beads of sweat form on my head and I long to be in the cool outside air.

At the end of the corridor, there's a lounge-type area that is laden with zombies. We deal with them, and I see an elevator which is open, and the lights are on inside. "Mr Douglas, we've found you're elevator," I say, going inside. I place my cheek against the cool metal bar, moaning out at the comfort.

"You're normally not supposed to use an elevator in a fire, but I don't think that applies to a _zombie apocalypse_!"

Kyle presses the button with the 'G' next to it, and we wait patiently. The Cute guy turns to me and holds out a hand. "My name's Ellis, but people call me El, but I really prefer Ellis, 'cos EL kinda sounds like a girl's name, but you can call me El... If you like..." he says this in a rush, not letting the ear-to-ear grin off his face. I take his hand, feeling the roughness to it, and shake.

"Louise. Pleasure to meet you, Ellis," I smile again. I don't know what it is about Ellis, but he makes me smile.

"I'm Nicolas... Nick..." Suit says, nodding at me.

"The names Rochelle," the girl says grinning at me.

"My friends call me Coach, I guess you guys can do the same," Coach says.

I feel disappointed that Coach didn't give us his real name, but he probably just doesn't want to get too close to us.

"Hey, Nick, Rochelle, Coach, Ellis. This beautiful girl here is Molly," I gesture towards Molly who laughs and smiles. I notice Nick staring at her longer than the rest. "The old timer is Mr Douglas," Douglas shakes everyone's hand, muttering hello, before turning away. "And this is the most annoying teenage boy in the history of the world, but we call him Kyle," Kyle nods at everyone but Nick. I sense trouble brewing between the two.

"So you're accen'," Ellis says, curiosity written all over his face, "that's a British accen' right?"

"Yeah," I smile back at his sweetness.

Ellis' face lights up, excitement dancing in his eyes, "Oh my God, I never met a British person before! My buddy Keith met someone when he went on his trip 'cross Europe, and he kept tryin' to copy the accent, but he couldn't quite get it, so he spent, like, _all_ of his vacation money on gettin' this British dude to teach him how to speak with a British accen', 'cos he thought it sounded real fancy like, and it would help him get his girlfrien' back. But, 'course this guy was only tryin' to weasel him outta all his money, and never showed up for the sessions. So Keith decided to come home, but he didn' have any money to buy a ticket back home, so-"

"Ellis, is now the best time?" Nick asks, cocking an eyebrow at the boy. He just falls silent.

I grumble a bit internally. I wanted to hear what happened to this 'Keith' guy...

As the elevator descends to the ground floor, we stand in silence, listening out for infected behind the elevator door. A Spitter wouldn't be too good if we're standing in this enclosed space, and I don't really fancy having the skin of my feet burned away by the horrible acid. But I've read something someone wrote on the wall of one of the safe houses about a Tank, and the way they described it... Well... I definitely don't want to meet one so soon...

The elevator shudders to a halt, and I hear the '_bing_', but the door doesn't open. I cough, the smoke swirling around our heads getting thicker, making it harder to see or breathe.

"What? Why won't the doors open?" Rochelle asks, hitting the door, but she yelps and pulls her hand away, showing a large, red scald on her palm. "Shit! That door's heating up fast!"

"We're gonna have to pry these doors open... Better get ready, I'm bettin' there's gonna be somethin' waitin' out there for us..." Nick says, placing his crowbar where the two doors meet. He grunts and strains as the doors slowly slide open. Coach adds his hands and hisses against the pain in his hands as he helps the doors open. He stands against one and waits for us to run out, before quickly jumping out of the way before the doors snap shut.

"My hands," Coach groans, and I look at the third degree burns that run from the palm of his hand and up his fingers.

"Oh no," I bite my lip, getting out the water and splashing it over the cut, washing away the bacteria. I wrap it up with a few bandages, quickly, kicking back zombies that tried to get a bite out of either of us. "There," I said tying the end of the bandage together. "It'll hurt for a bit to hold a gun, but I'm sure you'll get used to it."

I turn around just in time to see a zombie running at me, part of its jaw missing. I try shooting, but I'm out of ammo I try hitting the zombie back, but it grabs my wrist. I scream out, and Coach tries to shoot it away, but he's only getting the thing in the side.

It sinks its teeth into my wrist, and I feel the blood gush out before I see it. The pain is searing through my body, burning in places and sending chills over others. I feel my legs shake, and the room goes black...

"Louise! Louise get up! C'mon! We can't waste time here!" Sound returns, and I feel someone slap my face, trying to get me to wake up. My eyes slowly open, and I see Kyle bent over me, looking pale and scared. He places his hands under my arm pits and tries to lift me back to my feet again. I help as much as I can, but I am weak and drowsy. I get to my feet and collapse again, only to be caught by Ellis, who lifts me into his arms. I look at the bandage on my wrist, which has a large crimson stain on it, and wonder who did it for me.

"I'll take her," he says. He hands me a gun. I let my eyes focus on it, trying to realise what it was. "You'll have to shoot. That alrigh' darlin'?" He asks. I nod. Then Ellis starts to run, keeping me surprisingly still. I shoot zombies that run up to us, realising that he handed me a sub machine gun, the speed of the gun surprising me and making a strange difference. The downside is that I end up wasting a whole bloody clip on three zombies that were making a beeline for us.

We enter a kitchen-type area, coughing and spluttering. I start to smell the rank odour of burning flesh as zombies run at us through the flames that block our path back to the safe room.

"Remember when we thought those tiny flames around here were bad? I take that back," Nick grumbles and he lifts himself up onto a metal counter that sands in the centre of the room. He moans at the pain of his flesh on the red hot metal, and gets to his feet. "Ellis, pass me your girlfriend," he orders, crouching and holding out his arms.

"She's not my girlfriend, Nick!" Ellis snaps, handing me over to Nick, who's smiling smugly. He holds me how Ellis does, but it doesn't feel as right.

"Whatever. Now," Nick says, looking down at me, his thin lips still in an arrogant smirk that made me hate him just that _little_ bit more, "I'm gonna lie you down on the floor, help Ellis over, so he can grab you again, then I will let everyone else over. Is that okay, cupcake?"

I glare at him, before punching him in the chest. "I'm not 'cupcake', I'm not 'sweet-heart', and if you ever call me anything other than my name again, I will take this gun, and shove it right up your- HEY!" He drops me on the floor, so I land on my backside on the hard tiles.

"You are such a dick, Nick," Ellis snarls when Nick lifts him onto the counter. Nick just laughs and proceeds to help the rest up. I hear several other comments about Nick, along with dull thuds that tell me no one's impressed with what he did. Ellis holds me in his arms again and I feel comfortable again.

I hear the horrible slurping sounds that make me remember the many times I've had to nurse burnt feet and find new shoes.

"There's a Spitter around here somewhere..." I warn, tightening my hold on the gun.

"What's a Spitter?" Rochelle asks, moving ahead of us.

"It sounds dirty..." Nick mutters to the people behind me. I roll my eyes as I feel Ellis shake with laughter around me.

Then the Spitter runs around the corner, so she's facing us, her mouth dripping her acidic green saliva. Her back is hunched as she moves closer, but she straightens it, aiming at the ground at our feet. I watch as the acid approaches us quickly, and it lands at our feet.

"Get out of the Spitter goo!" I cry, and Ellis complies, moving forwards, as I shoot the horrible thing. It drops to the floor, more acid oozing out of the dead body.

"What the hell did that thing just do?" I hear Nick cry, and I look over Ellis' shoulder to see Rochelle sitting on the ground, tears streaming from her eyes, the bottoms of her boots dissolved in places and the parts of her feet I can see are bleeding and the skin has been burnt away, showing the muscle beneath it. Nick is hovered over her, trying to calm her down. "Shit! Ro are you alright?" he asks, taking out his health kit.

"No, my freaking feet are burning," she sobs in pain, taking off her boots. I pour the water over them, removing the remaining acid that is slowly taking away her skin. "That green thing spits burning goo shit? Couldn't you have, like, mentioned this before?" Rochelle asks as Nick starts bandaging her feet so that she can stand on her own without any discomfort.

"You guys go on ahead, we'll catch up..." Coach says, seeing the desperate look in my eyes that is begging to go back to the safe room.

"You sure?" Mr Douglas asks, casting a worried glance towards Rochelle.

"Yeah, she's a tough cookie." Coach replies, settling down near Nick and Rochelle.

Mr Douglas leads the way out of the room, throwing the Boomer Bile into the fire, which burns the zombies that chase it, except for the hazmat guys who stay there, hitting thin air, attacking the wind.

"Here, give this to Ellis," Kyle says, handing me a needle. I read the label, 'ADRENALINE', and nod. "It'll make him speed up a bit. I think you're slowin' him down a bit."

"This'll sting for a bit, 'kay?" I warn, before biting off the lid and jamming it into Elli's arm.

"Wububububu!" he makes a random noise as he shakes himself, and I laugh, for the first time in weeks.

We speed down the lobby, me shooting zombies whilst Ellis laughs at my laughter. We get in the safe room, and Ellis sets me down on one of the comfy chairs. I sit there, fiddling with the bandage around my wrist watching as Kyle, Molly and Douglas eventually run in, smiling and joking.

"The others are on their way. Nick's carryin' Ro," Molly says, settling down beside me. Sure enough, two minutes later, a disgruntled looking Nick, a scowling Rochelle, and a hungry looking Coach make their way through the door, barricading it as they enter. Molly moves so Rochelle can rest on the seat next to me.

"We're a right damn good team!" Ellis cries, and I smile at him, and I look around at my new 'team'.

**Woo! Another chapter finished! Sorry it's taking for ever guys, I just can't type fast, and I don't plan these chapters, I just do what comes into my head as I write. And I had to use Ellis' "Wububububu!" line; because I think it's probably the best line in the game alongside his "Spang!" line and Nick's "Asshat!" line. I had to look on the internet to find out how they do suturing the wounds, because I'm still quite young, and I don't know a bloody thing on how to suture wounds. Anyhoo, I'd like comments please :D**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Dead Centre- The Streets

We sat in the safe room for a bit whilst Ellis, Coach, Douglas, Nick and Kyle went to work on barricading the door. I breathe in as much of the fresh air as I can, trying to dodge the sickening stench of the infected that lurk just behind the safe house door. I sigh, getting to my feet, swaying slightly, to grab another health kit. Rochelle gets up and joins me, treading gingerly on her bandaged feet.

"Hey, do you know exactly how long it'll take for my feet to stop burning?" She asks, grimacing at the pain. "'Cause, this hurts like hell," she laughs, but I can tell she's in serious pain.

"I got burned by the acid. On my knees," I pull up my trouser legs to show her the large angry pink scars on my knees. "It took about a day for the initial pain to go away, then another two days for the after burn to leave, and the throbbing pain still hasn't gone yet, so you'll probably have to wait until we get to the helicopter and whatever." I finished awkwardly. I still wasn't a good friend of Rochelle's, but I had to be civil.

I put the health kit on my back, and I pocket some more ammo, before searching the room again. We need some more guns, and Ellis had been bragging (cutely) about how he was amazing at shooting with shotguns. I go behind the desk and place my hands in each of the holes, sure that when I took the food out last night, I felt something brush my knuckle. Sure enough, a few guns were hidden at the back. I pull out two shotguns, full of ammo, and three mini-Uzis.

"Holy shit! This guy must have been freaking terrified of people trying to rob him," I call out, "Look at this!"

Ellis was first at my side (again) and his adorable eyes widen as they take in the five, perfect condition guns that lie out on the table in front of us. "Wow, besides missin' the helicopter, we've been havin' some mighty fine luck. First with those weapons, and then travellin' with a doctor, and now finding some beautiful weapons. Shoot me now, 'cause this day 'aint gone get better than this!" He picks up a shotgun, and inspects it. He looks like he's just found the lost city of Atlantis. "Screw me! This gun is freakin' am-_a_-zing!" He laughs, then he looks at me and blushes bright red. We look away from each other, feeling awkward and embarrassed.

"Um, guys, if you want a brand new gun, it's a first come, first served basis," I call and the guys swarm the table, squabbling over the different guns. I watch, carefully, as Nick and Kyle get into an argument over what's better, Uzi, or a shotgun. When I'm sure they're not going to use the guns on each other, I move away from the table, not feeling weak anymore. I stand in front of the door, facing my group. The boys had finished picking their guns, and were now talking eagerly, except for Kyle and Nick, who had moved far away from each other, scowling angrily. The girls were standing there, waiting patiently, for me to talk, as they knew I would. I clear my throat trying to get their attention. The boys stop talking and look at me, focusing on me. "Um, okay, we're gonna have to go through this way, and we've been up here before, and we practically killed everything that got in our way, and I'm sure you lot came this way too," the new people nodded, "so I'm thinking there's not gonna be too much out there, but I _really_ need to tell you about the other Specials.'  
"So you've already met the Hunter, the Spitter and the Jockey, but there are several more that are quite dangerous. The Charger is one that we all must be aware of if we happen to go up any high places, as he just rams you off the building, and he can kill you," I shuddered remembering the time when I watched a Charger kill a young woman that way, "If he goes into a brick wall, he will just pound you into any available hard surface. Recognise him by the big arm and overalls. Next, the Boomer. He can't do much, but you know how this," I pulled out the bottle of vivid green puke out of my pocket, "attracts the horde? Well, this is Boomer puke, and when he throws up on you, you're going to smell of _this_ and the horde is gonna be all over you. They love the smell. Oh, and the Boomer explodes when you shoot it, and it's puke goes _everywhere_, so try not to stand too close to him-or her- when you kill one."

"What does the Boomer look like?" Nick asks. I know why he cares so much. That suit looks expensive, and it's already covered in blood. He doesn't need Boomer puke all over him.

"Well..." I wonder how to put this without hurting Coach's feelings when Mr Douglas saves me.

"He's one fat bastard," he says bluntly. We all laugh, and I look at Coach through the corner of my eye, and I'm relieved to see he's chortling too, like the rest of us.

"Well, anyway, so we've covered the Boomer and the Charger. What else... Oh, yeah, the Smoker! Okay, so the Smoker has got a really long tongue, and he uses them as restraints, so he'll try and pull you away from the rest of us. He can hang you pretty easily, so if a Smoker grabs you, I want you to pull the tongue away from your body, so you can keep breathing. By the way, the Smoker's _very _tall, so he's not hard to miss. Then there's the Witch," I look at Kyle, who turns pale and scared at the mere mention of the creature, "She's a scantily clad female infected with _very_ sharp claws and a _very_ short temper. If you see, or even _hear_ one, turn of your torch-I mean flashlight, and keep as far away from her as you can. She will kill you if you piss her off."

"Instantly?" Rochelle squeaked.

"Instantly, but don't worry. Unless you startle her, she will leave you alone and just stay where she is. Crying."

"She cries? Why?" Ellis asks with concern all over his sweet face. I feel my heart warm up again, thinking that this sweet, kind man also sympathises for Witches. The fowlest creature on Earth.

"I dunno. Maybe because of the pain the sun causes her." I stop talking, thinking of the time I seen a man try to kill a Witch like you'd kill any normal zombie. I remember when the Witch stood up, screaming, and ran at him. I remember watching him continue to shoot her. I remember watching the Witch's claws cut him clean in half, before running away, crying again. I remember trying to comfort a petrified Kyle, who couldn't sleep, and whenever he did, he woke up screaming that the Witch was after him, and I'd have to sit there, cuddling him like I would cuddle Toby after he had a nightmare. My heart aches to have my son here, and I feel hot tears swim in my eyes. "C'mon, we need to go," I order, just like I'd ordered everyone before. I push open the doors, and I feel the rest behind me.

I feel a heavy sinking feeling in my heart, remembering how happy and excited I was last night, and because I'd overslept, I might never see my son again.

_No! Think positive!_ My mind yells at me._ You _will_ see Toby again. Maybe not for a few extra days, but you will see him soon._ I could only hope that I was right.

"Um, does it make a difference which way we go?" Coach asks, pausing outside the caravan outside the safe room. There were two paths: One going straight ahead, the other setting off to the right.

"Nah, they both go the same way anyway," I answer, heading towards the left, followed by Molly, Kyle and Mr Douglas. Coach leads the others down the path going straight ahead, giving us a little bit of time away from the new people.

"What do you think?" I ask the group. I need to know whether the people _I _trust think they can trust the people we're going around with.

Molly opens her mouth to speak, her face looking kind and serene, but Kyle cuts across her. "I don't like that _Nick_. He seems slimy and two-faced. He's a gambler you know, and he's made it clear he doesn't trust us, so I think lets save the hassle of everyone bein' pissed that they have to hang around with a guy who don't trust nobody, and leave him the first chance we get."

"What the hell are you talkin' 'bout Ky? Nick's a lovely guy, and I trust him. Plus Ellis seems to like him, so we can't leave him anywhere, 'cause that'd piss Ellis off." Molly snaps at Kyle, who looks a little annoyed at that.

I expect Kyle to back down and go all shy like he usually did around Molly, but he surprises me when he glares at her and retorts with, "He's only nice to you for your body. He only wants to get laid. He was real nice to Lou before, but that changed when she started to show more of an interest in Ellis."

"Shh!" I hiss. Kyle was getting pretty loud now, and I didn't want the others to overhear what we were saying.

"Listen, you little shit," Molly's voice isn't sweet anymore, and it comes out in a snarl, and her twang is more noticeable, "just 'cause I may have shown an interest in someone _other_ than you, don't give you the right to start pickin' fights with him."

"What makes you think I care that _he _likes you and you like him?"

"'Cause you have been crushin' on me since the second we met!"

Molly clasps a hand over her mouth and her chocolate eyes turn as large as plates. Kyle stands there, frozen in that one spot, his cheeks aflame. I close my eyes and sigh. "C'mon, guys, work this over when we get the hell outta here!" I'm not in the mood for any teenage hormonal bullshit, so I probably came off a bit more harsh than usual. I storm ahead, hearing the sound of gunshots and infected screaming and, for once, feeling glad that the infection was around. It would take our minds off ordinary worries and fears, which meant that Kyle and Molly would forget their little argument soon.

Hopefully.

I sigh again and pullout my Magnum, shooting a zombie in the shoulder as it sprinted at me. The creature staggers back, but, other than that, doesn't react to the bullet that tore through his flesh. I shoot it in the neck and it falls down, dead.

"Hey, Lou, long time, no see!" Ellis jokes as he leaves a large tent thing that is set up. No sign or emblem is on it, but I just know its CEDA. I go inside, my eyes wandering around the room. Bodies are on the floor (infected) and blood covers the pavement. 3 messy beds are centred in the middle of the room, and they too are covered in blood. Coach, Rochelle and Nick are perched carefully on the edge whilst Ellis digs through a pile of... Bags?...

"Um, what's he doing?" I whisper in Coach's ear. So far, the guy hadn't pissed me off, so I felt I could talk to him without getting annoyed at his answer.

He smiles at me, amused at my confusion. "He's lookin' for somethin' to kill zombies with. He thinks somethin'll be hidden in there."

Just as Coach finishes, Ellis straightens up and turns to face Coach. His grin is adorable, but mischievous, and I know he's found something good. "Hey, Coach, what'd I tell ya! I said there'd be somethin' in here, and I'm pretty damn sure you're gonna _love _this." And he pulls out a chainsaw.

"What the- Ellis, we can't bring _that_ with us!" I gasp, taking an involuntary step back, my eyes not leaving the sharp blades of the chainsaw.

"What? Sure we can! It makes a fast and effective zombie killing devise," Ellis insisted, sounding like he thought I was crazy.

"Ellis, I..." I was going to say I don't think its right to kill people with chainsaws, but Ellis interrupts me.

"There ain't a problem in the world that can't be solved with a chainsaw!" He exclaims, giving me his impish grin again. I laugh, and then I notice Mr Douglas, Kyle and Molly enter the tent.

I give Kyle and Molly a once-over, and I notice that both of their eyes were red, and their faces looked quite wet, and they weren't standing anywhere near each other. Molly, rather childishly, sat by Nick, and gave Kyle a pointed glare. Kyle sat by Rochelle, obviously trying to make Molly jealous, but it wasn't working, because the comfort looked way too forced, and Rochelle gave him a look that said '_what do _you_ want_'.

"Hey, Ellis, you mind if I have the chainsaw?" Coach asks, his eyes glaring hungrily at the chainsaw.

"Sure!" Ellis laughed, and gently handed Coach the chainsaw.

"Hey guys, I don't feel like missing the helicopter that might possibly be waiting for us in that mall _or _the one that might possibly be waiting for us in New Orleans, and I'm pretty sure your girlfriend wouldn't either, so I say we keep moving," Nick said, getting off his smartly dressed arse and leaving the tent, taking care to stand on a zombie's body as he moves. He _seriously_ makes me sick, but he did have a point, and, despite my distaste with him, I follow him outside.

"Hey, what's wrong with Molly and Kyle?" he whispers to me, catching me slightly off-guard. He looks concerned, but my gut is telling me 'HE THINKS OF NO ONE OTHER THAN HIMSELF, DO _NOT_ FORGET THAT!' But my general instinct to give people second chances is saying '_hey, maybe he's not just a narcissistic, smug, hateful prick. Maybe there's _something_ in him that's good'_.

"They had a little fight, that's all," I reassured him, giving him a small, half arsed smile which he obviously misinterprets as a friendly, welcoming smile. He smiles back, and moves away, just as Ellis bounds up, and he instantly grabs my attention by taking my hand into his. Not like Kyle would when he was scared, but like Ben would when he wanted me to know he cared for me. I feel a stab in my heart, but I hold back the tears so I could ask Ellis what he was doing, but he quickly claims my lips with his, giving me a sweet, gentle kiss. He pulls away, smiling, before slowly caressing my face.

"I think that this is no time for me to be all shy 'bout likin' you, Louise, so I'd much rather kiss you now and always havin' that memory with me, than jus' dreamin', and regretting it when _somethin'_ happens," his face crumples around the word 'something' and I know what he means. It is better that he kisses me while he has the chance, rather than one of us dying later on and never having done anything. When I don't respond, Ellis's grin falls from his face, and he looks angry at himself. "Aw, shit! You... You didn't want me to kiss you, did you?" Before I get a chance to answer, he puts a hand over his eyes, and groans. "Aw, hell! I'm real sorry Louise, but it's just that I thought you liked me too! Shit, just forget about it okay. We'll start anew!" Ellis said, taking his hand away from his face and holding it out. I take it, and shake his hand for a moment, but I let go and press my lips to his and wrap my arms around his neck. I feel Ellis' surprise when he doesn't respond, but he regains himself and starts kissing me back.

"Um, Overalls and Bad-Teeth," somewhere, Nicks voice was insulting us, but I was too lost in Ellis to care, "I don't know about you, but it's certainly not any of _us_ doing the coughing."

I pull away from Ellis and clear my head. I smell the odour of putrid smoke, and I know what we're up against. I search around for the tall, lanky, tumour infested body of the-

"Smoker!" Mr Douglas yelled, and I was surrounded by the horrible sound of gunshots. The coughing didn't cease like it usually did, but it just became more distant. "Shit!" Mr Douglas yelled, placing his hand over his eyes. He didn't like it when the _things _got away from him. He just couldn't stand them still attacking people.

"Let's go," I said, and led the way into a small building. I pushed away several zombies, not in the angry mood to kill things, allowing other people (mainly a sour looking Nick, a devastated Molly and a disgruntled Kyle) take the kills. I felt Ellis' presence behind me, and sighed quite happily, glad to have the hole left in my heart filled... Though I was afraid it wouldn't last.

Desperate to get the thought out of my head, I turned to talk to Molly. "Hey, what happened with you and Ky?" I asked, wanting bubbly Molly to become more herself than the depressed mess she'd became.

"I don't wanna talk 'bout it," she answered, but her face softened and she added, "why don't we talk 'bout you 'n Ellis instead?" she grinned at the blush that'd formed on my face.

"Shut up!" I hissed, but I smiled at her. She looked a lot like her old self when she smiled.

"He's very cute. Them blue eyes are jus' gaw-jus!" Molly giggled like a school-girl, and then grinned at me. "But you don' have to worry," she added, casting her eyes to Nick, "I'm looking for a _man_!"

Kyle barged past us at that moment, and I was pretty sure I heard him hiss "slut!" as he passed. I rolled my eyes at their childishness and decided to leave Molly, so she could think about the two guys in her life.

At the bottom of the set of stairs, I began to hear strange grunting noises coming from outside, but I choose to ignore it, thinking it's just a zombie.

"What the hell is that noise?" Mr Douglas asks, and he cocks his head so he can hear the rumbling noises coming from behind the wall.

"It's just a zombie, isn't it?" Kyle asks, his face changing from very pissed off to being petrified in about three seconds.

"Well, we're about to find out..." Nick says, before kicking open the door. A loud roar shakes the building, and I can feel the ground tremble with the tremendous force of whatever the thing is. Nick lets out a startled and terrified yell, and runs up the stairs. I usher everyone up in front of me, and turn to see a large zombie force its way through the door, it's huge bulking body taking a large chunk of the brick around the door. For the first time in many years, I let out a proper, high-pitched girl scream and I run up the stairs.

"Shoot the shit outta that thing!" Rochelle yells to us, being the only brave one in the group to turn around and face the beast head on. I follow her lead, and everyone joins, and we just keep shooting it. It starts getting too close for comfort, and I watch as Kyle dashes off back the way we came. I am shocked by his cowardice, but I would prefer it if he got out of here alive. The tank is about twenty feet in front of us, and the ground shakes and trembles, his roars growing louder.

"Shoot the gas tank!" I hear Kyle's scared voice yell out, and I see a petrol can land at the creature's feet. I change targets, and after a few shots to the fluid, it ignited, and the monster was set up in flames, and its pained yells were clues that fire _does_ work against it. After around two minutes more of dodging the thing's attacks, it stopped moving, and it fell, face first, to the ground, which caused the ground to shudder again. I looked around, panting, at my friends, watching their expressions of shock turn into relief.

"What the hell was that?" Nick huffed. Everyone shook their heads, at a loss for what that huge monster was. Then I remembered what I'd read on the walls of previous buildings...

_The thing was so big! It towered over us all, and the roars..._

_The ground actually shook!_

_It crushed my brother. RIP_

_That thing is called a Tank..._

"We may have encountered our first Tank," I said, and I knew people weren't going to be shocked at the revelation, but Ellis was mildly curious.

"How did you know?" he asked, looking down at the charred body.

"People, do you mind if we walk n' talk? We got a plane to catch. Or should I say helicopter?" Coach says, chuckling at his piss-poor attempt at a joke. We go back into the building, albeit gingerly, and we take the lack of grunts as encouragement that the Tank isn't as common as other Specials.

Apart from being incredibly tired, we were all well as we got to the gun store that Ellis and Coach had been promising was near. Nick looked like a child in a toy store as he examined each gun in turn, turning it over, checking that it was fully functional. He finally found himself a pretty gorgeous AK-47. Ellis, Kyle, Mr Douglas, Coach and I had all taken Auto-Shots and Combat Shotguns, whereas Molly took a Combat Rifle, and Rochelle took a Sniper Rifle. It looked too big to be held by Rochelle's tiny frame, but when she took shots at several infected that were clambering over the fence, she managed to take them out easily.

"So, we gonna blast open this door, and go out this way, check if there's any way of gettin' around?" Nick asked, and Ellis aimed his Combat Shotgun at the door.

"No! Let's try using this buzzer here. There might be someone who can help." I snapped. We didn't want to alarm any infected in the vicinity that we were here by blowing a big hole in the door. I pushed the button. Instantly, a rough, gravelly voice came over the other end.

"Hello there, I've barricaded myself on the roof with ample provisions, but in my haste, I forgot cola. So here's my proposition: If you go find me some cola in the food store, I'll clear the path to the mall for ya," the man, who must be the owner, Whitaker, said, not even pausing to ask who we were. I smiled; glad someone was alive and surviving this as well.

"So we get you some snacks, and you clear the way? Shit, that sounds fair," Ellis nodded, and the door in front of us swung open, showing a small set of stairs leading outside again. Everyone else ran upstairs, but I stepped into a room to the right, and I turned on my torch so I could see into the dark room. I walked over to a shelf and found several things. They look a lot like... Pipe-bombs? I picked one up and inspected it. Yes, sure enough they were pipe-bombs, but they looked different. A little red light sat on the end, and it was just lightly flashing. I took a couple, wondering how effective they'd be against the zombies.

"Lou?" I hear Ellis' panicked voice from the top of the stairs. That's when I realised I hadn't told anyone I was coming in here.

"Don't worry, Ellis," I called back. I heard his relieved sigh, and his footsteps got closer. "I'm in here."

"Well that's good, 'cause- AAAH!" Ellis' words were cut short as the unmistakable sound of a Charger charging flew past me. Then I heard him screaming, and the sound of bullets being sprayed everywhere. I ran back upstairs and saw the Charger pummelling his comparatively small body into the ground.

"Kill this thing, will ya!" his voice turned shrill, and I Took aim at the back of the Charger's head. I pulled the trigger, and the disfigured infected grunted as the bullet penetrated the back of his skull, killing him. Ellis rolled out from beneath the body, just as it fell with a slight thud. The boy stood up, wincing, and looked at me. "Thanks. That was startin' to hurt," he thanked smiling. He embraced me, and I pulled my arms around him, but pulled away when he grunted, obviously hurt, as I touched his ribs.

"Does it hurt?" I asked. Ellis nodded, so I started gently pressing my fingers over the bones. I heard Ellis take sharp intakes of breath as every now and then, but I couldn't feel any broken bones. I stood up he smiled at me.

"Any broken bones, Doc?" he asks, grinning at the new nickname he'd found for me. I rolled my eyes and laughed.

"No. You're just gonna be really tender round your ribs, so I advise you not to exert yourself," I say, putting on my 'Doctor' voice.

"Aw, hell," the boy said, and grinned at what he had implied. I laughed and bit my lip.

"Ugh! You guys are really getting on my nerves! Let's go!" Nick was tapping his foot impatiently, before he pushed past us and stormed down the stairs, heading for the store.

I grinned at Ellis and I quickly followed Nick, feeling a little embarrassed by my public flirting with Ellis. I heard Rochelle mutter, "Lucky bitch!" as she passed, and she smiled at me. This wasn't starting to seem like a bad idea. I was making friends, which was good, and I'd found a _really_ sweet guy, which was even better. If it weren't for the infection, I'd be the happy, with Ellis, my new friends, Toby...

Shit.

I had to stop pretending life was normal. I would end up forgetting him, and I can't do that. I need to remember him. Remember them _both_. I couldn't forget what had happened to Ben so quickly. I couldn't be with Ellis.

I had to focus, so when Ellis, sweet as he was, took my hand in his, I jerked it out of his grasp, probably too harshly as he stood there, lagging behind the group. I shook my head clear of the rejection and pushed forwards, so I was first to arrive outside the store. Nick was next, and then Coach, then, slowly, everyone made it over to the store.

"Okay, so I'm guessing the alarm to the shop will go off when we open the door, so a horde will be here shortly. We need to think of a plan... Mr Douglas, you're coming in here with me. Nick, Ellis, you're gonna wait out here, and stop as many zombies as you can from getting in. Kyle and Molly, you're gonna wait around the side there, and Rochelle and Coach, you're gonna be sniping any infected that make their way up over these fences, okay? And you're gonna have to catch the cola when we throw it up at you-" I was cut off by Coach.

"What do you mean, 'catch the cola'? You can't throw it up there. If it breaks, then grouchy crazy guy won't help us pass," Coach was going into 'freak-out' mode, so I placed a hand on his wide arm.

"Coach, you _will_ catch it. It's a positive." I reassured, smiling, but really I was panicking myself. A large tanker had blocked our way to the mall, so we were pretty screwed if the glass bottles broke. "Okay people, get to your positions!"

I watched as everyone went to their appropriate places, before smiling at Mr Douglas. He smiled back, before opening the door. Instantly, I chucked a pipe-bomb, and it began emitting a beeping noise, and it was lighting up more rapidly now. The horde that had rapidly clambered over fences and through the doors of the buildings followed it, following the beeping. I wasn't there to see the explosion, but the 'BOOM' was enough to give me an idea the explosion had been epic. I ran to the back of the store, searching the empty shelves (obviously cleared by looters) and I found the small four-pack of cola that this man was so desperate for. Once again, I found myself baffled by men. I picked up the cola and ran out of the store. I passed Nick and Ellis, who looked a little tired and where covered in blood. Nick had a Smoker's severed tongue wrapped around his middle, looking like a belt, and Ellis was wincing, but other than that, they were fine. I got to the edge of the little wall-type-thing and shouted at Coach. He looked down at me, and worry was etched into every line of his face.

"Are you ready?" I asked, looking for any signs of hesitation. He showed none. He nodded, and I threw the cola at him. He caught it, and passed it to Rochelle, who ran to a little door thing. Whitakers voice came out sharp, making me jump.

"JUST PUT IT THE DAMN SLOT!" He snapped, and Rochelle hastily put the cola in the slot in the door. In about five seconds, Whitaker had opened a window to his room, and he shot a _rocket launcher_ (!) at the tanker, successfully blowing it up.

"Come on!" I cried over the noise, and I ran to the space where the tanker was. I laughed and ran past. I just ran around the corner, and I saw the amount of infected who hadn't been affected by the alarm. I took out another pipe-bomb, which I had realised was attached to the inside of a fire alarm, lit the fuse, and threw it, causing the infected in the area to chase the grenade I watched the explosion, and watched how much blood and guts and body parts flew out of the black cloud that had formed after the explosion. It was surprising to be honest. I kept running, dodging the body parts, and I jumped for joy when I saw the safe house. I ran straight in and stood there waiting for everyone to get in.

When Rochelle, the last person in the room, shut the door, she turned to face the group and beamed. "Alright, this party is _over_!"

**OMG! I have been taking forever writing these, but it's just been really hard 'cause we just started school again, and it's a pretty important year, so I have to actually **_**try**_**! Ugh! Forgive me? Btw, I'm going to start replying to all reviews I get, so if you have a question or anything, feel free to ask, and I assure you it will be answered soon-**_**ish**_**. Reviews please!**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Dead Centre- Mall

Awkward silence fell among the group, and I didn't want that... I wanted us all to trust each other, and if a few fall-outs had caused the entire crew to stand here in a zombie apocalypse in complete silence, then we obviously weren't as tight as we should be. I was about to say something, when Coach beat me to it, closing his eyes and putting his hands together.

"Everybody gather 'round, let's pray," Coach said, and we were all instantly drawn close by his powerful voice. "Dear Lord," he began, and I felt uneasy. I hadn't been praying enough recently, so maybe that's why all the bad shit has been happening to me. "See us safely through our time of trial in this mall. And please, Lord, let the food court be okay."  
The whole room erupted into laughter, but between fits of giggles, Rochelle and Ellis managed to gasp "Amen!" which set me off into even more bursts of laughter. Soon, when the hilarity had died down, I was tempted to try and set it off again, liking the familiar noise in this insane time. I looked at Coach, wanting to thank this brilliant man for giving us a piece normality in this world that was anything _but_ normal, but he was looking at the gun he was holding in his hands, and I could hear him praying.

"Dear Lord, please forgive me for killing these innocent, sick people, and I hope that you will guide them to their loved ones in your eternal kingdom," his face was sad, but when he saw me staring, he smiled, and the tears in his eyes disappeared. I nodded at him, and I had the urge to hug his huge body, to wrap my arms around his beer-belly. I resisted said urge, and settled with patting him lightly on his arm before grabbing more ammo and another health pack. We didn't spend too long in the safe room, as there was an eerie lack of light as we blocked up our door. I turned on my torch, and the others followed. Then I heard the distant sobs of... Shit!

I turned to face Kyle, and by the lack of fear on his face, I knew he couldn't hear it. I toyed with the idea of not telling him _just_ yet, but Ellis, who had been looking a little more than hurt, obviously had better hearing than the others. "Y'all hear that cryin'?" He asked cocking his head to hear more. I kept my eyes on Kyle as he listened, and realised, and blanched.

"Witch? Witch?" the boy started hyperventilating, staring at his gun. "Witch!" His eyes suddenly bored into mine, and I knew he was seriously scared. "But, Lou, we ain't got no outside light in here. We _need _our flashlights!"

"Then keep it on, kid," Nick, who was speaking around a cigarette in his mouth, sighed. A part in my mind wondered where he'd gotten that... But then I realised I might _not_ want to know...

"We can't. The Witch is way too sensitive, and if the light hits her, then she... She..." Molly trailed off, taking shuddering breaths. I looked towards Mr Douglas, hoping the old guy would know how to calm the teenagers, but his eyes were wide and staring, not focusing on anything, just... staring.

"Douglas?" I asked, placing a hand on the old man's shoulder. He jumped and looked at me, shaking his head, his response to my silent question in his eyes. _We're screwed_.

I sighed and decided I'd be the smart one. The rational one. "Okay, people," I said, and I watched as Molly, Kyle and Mr Douglas looked up at me, hopeful, whilst Nick, Rochelle and Coach all looked like they were missing out on something big. Ellis didn't look at me at all. "We're gonna have to sort this out. I'm keeping my torch on so we can see, but I need maybe two other people to help," I paused, waiting for someone to bravely volunteer. Silence. "Okay then... Nick, seeing as you're so sure about everything, you can keep your torch on as well. Coach, you wanna help as well?" I asked, looking at Coach intently, not really caring if he said no, but he nodded, and I appreciated his help all the same.

"Um, what's the problem with havin' a flashlight on 'round a Witch?" Ellis asked, speaking to me directly again. He looked a little worried, but I knew I couldn't give him false hope by letting him think that I cared about then small things in his face, the way the blue pools of his eyes would get narrower as his pupils dilated, how he would shrink in slightly, and the frown on his face that made him look like a child. I controlled myself before I completely lost it and hugged him.

"Don't you remember, kid?" Mr Douglas growls. He doesn't look happy. "The Bitch'll go ape-shit crazy, and practically rip your balls off," the old man turns to me, his face softening, "now, Lou, I know you like to be the leader, but this is-"

"You ain't keepin' your flashlight on."

Ellis' voice rang clear through the safe room, and the stubbornness in it was overpowering, like he wouldn't back down.

I turned to Ellis, and I felt my own stubbornness flare up. "Wait a second..." I pause for a moment before shaking my head. "No, I don't think it's you who controls my actions." Ellis looks like he's been slapped, and I turn my back on him, thinking he would back down.

"I thought you wanted to find yer kid?" Ellis asked, and I knew he instantly regretted it, as he joined in on the shocked intake of breath that was echoed around the room.

"How... How the hell did you know about Toby?" I snarled, closing the distance between me and Ellis, forcing my fury at him.

"I-I..." he winced at the anger that rolled off my body. "I heard yer friends talkin' 'bout the fact you had a kid..." Mr Douglas and Kyle shifted uncomfortably.

"How _dare_ you bring him up in this? How _dare you_!" my voice was getting louder. I could hear Coach, Nick and Rochelle whisper excitedly behind me, but I didn't take any notice to them.

"C'mon, Lou, we can't waste fightin' energy on _him_." Kyle spat the last word, making it a curse. He headed for the door, and for extra measure, I turned on my torch, seeing Ellis stare at the ground, defeated. Kyle opened the door, and led the way into the near darkness.

If it wasn't for the torch strapped to my gun, and the few windows on the ceiling, then we would end up dying in this spot. As soon as we left the safe room, a Hunter leapt on me. I didn't get hurt much, just a banged head as the thing forced me really hard to the ground. I yelled out for Kyle, and he shot the thing off me before it had even raised its dirty claws. I stood up again, thanked Kyle quickly, and moved on. We couldn't wait around with that Witch somewhere in the mall. I noticed Ellis storming off ahead, obviously trying to find the Witch before I did, but I didn't really care if he found her before me. I only cared if he thought he could kill her.

I heard the roar, but I was too slow to react.

"IT'S GOT ME!" Ellis' yell of pain had everyone rushing for him. The large zombie had Ellis' body in his large meaty hand, whilst its other arm flailed lamely at its side. The Charger picked up Ellis' body and continued to smash him into the ground whilst we shot at it. When we heard a horrible popping noise, I knew something was wrong. I grabbed my crowbar, and with all my strength, I shoved the tool into the Charger's head. It grunted as it fell down, dead, close to Ellis, who was groaning in pain. His left arm looked really weird. I felt up and down his arm, ignoring his whimpers and protests. Shit. The Charger dislocated his shoulder.

"Ellis, this is gonna hurt like hell, but you need to man up." I warned, before grabbing his arm and shoving it back into place. I winced at his cry of pain, and I got to my feet, ignoring the shocked faces, and grabbed my gun. "Let's go, people!" I said, jogging up the escalator, waiting at the top for my friends. Ellis' face was red and his eyes were full of tears, but he looked well as he staggered to the top of the escalator, leaning slightly into Nick for support. I rolled my eyes. There'd been worse things I'd had to sort out...

"_Amy! Don't run ahead! You should really act your age!" Kyle yelled out to the girl who was already half way down the road, whilst we were still barricading the safe room door. She just laughed, ignoring all danger as she practically skipped through the Horde, not even getting grazed once. No one was puked on either! It just didn't make any sense._

"_C'mon guysss" Amy hollered over the noise of the infected. I noticed the way she drew out the 's'... But then it didn't mean anything to me. She was just messing around. She led the way to the safe house, not even noticed by the Commons or the Specials as we ran._

_That night we'd stayed in the safe house. We were tired, and hurt, and famished, and we had to rest, but we needed someone to stand guard. Amy volunteered first watch, because, despite being an overall pain in the arse, she's a nice person, a good team mate... and one _hell_ of a shooter! I volunteered second watch, deciding to get some rest._

_The safe house was very nice actually. I could have happily lived there. It was a nice little family home, with two rooms, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a nice little living room. Molly, Amy and I had the larger room, and Mr Douglas and Kyle had the children's room. Sleeping was fairly easy, but eating wasn't too good... Half of the food was mouldy, even though it wasn't past its sell-by date... Apparently the Green Flu affected food as well as people... Affected something in the cells... I took out some fruit and vegetables, making plans to boil the veg, and serve the fruit as an after... But then I found it... meat... not affected by the flu... completely fresh..._

_Someone put it in the house for anyone coming here._

_I felt a surge of warmth for the person, and I quickly set up a little fire to cook the meat. We ate well that night, though. Before too long everyone except Amy went to bed, bidding everyone goodnight._

_After what seemed like only an hour's sleep, I was awoken to light growling downstairs. Shit! If Amy had failed to keep the infected out, I'd kill her._

_I grabbed my gun, and slowly made my way down stairs. Sure enough, a zombie was standing in the living room, but Amy was nowhere to be seen. I looked at the infected, aiming the gun at the back of its head, waiting to shoot, when I noticed something... Was that a _gun_ in the zombie's pocket?_

_It turned to face me and the mystery of the gun and Amy's whereabouts were solved._

"_Oh, Amy!" I gasped, recognising the mockery of Amy's face in the infected's torn grimace. I didn't hesitate, quickly blowing a hole in her chest. She fell to the floor, twitching. "Why didn't you say anything, you stupid girl?" My tone wasn't angry, just full of sorrow. I'd lost someone else, and by my own hand again! I sighed, deciding to dispose of the body, and then pretend that something must have taken her whilst she was on watch. I didn't want the others to think that she was putting the team at jeopardy for another couple of hours of life._

To this day, I haven't told the others what had really happened, just that I'd came down to see a lot of blood in the living room, and her gun and health pack lying on the ground. They'd been sorry, but we weren't all as attached to each other as we were now, so I think if any of us died now, we'd grieve like we'd lost family, not just feel sorry.

"What's wrong?" I heard Mr Douglas whisper as he passed me. "Apart from the whole 'Ellis-is-a-prick' thing?"

I looked guiltily at him. Hiding my eyes so he didn't see the lie in my eyes as I told it, I said "Nothing. Just the whole 'Ellis-is-a-prick' thing." I smiled at him, but that seemed to make him more uneasy, before falling back to speak to Coach, who I could hear was talking fondly of his daughter Grace who was in college when the flu hit. From what I gathered, his wife and daughter are both safe and fine, as he watched them get on the helicopter. He stayed behind, though, because he saw a few children that he taught at his school looking lost. When he helped some of them on, he noticed others began to change, and that was his first encounter with the infected.

"Did they bite you?" Mr Douglas asked, sounding a lot more forceful than usual. Coach shook his head. "Have you been bitten?" Again, the large man shook his head. "Well maybe we should test you-"

"No! Douglas! What the hell! We can't force him to become infected!" Molly sounded disgusted and shocked at Douglas' actions, but I thought he was right in wanting to test the man. Yet the whole 'wife and kids' thing _really_ affected whether I was going to agree with Mr Douglas out loud or not. He has a _family_. Coach will survive this. I know he will. Like I _will _see my son again.

"Well, let's just see how you'll feel when you have to shoot the big guy in that bald head of his," Mr Douglas growled, and Coach's indignant expression proved he'd heard what had been said. I shook my head, and pushed on ahead. The Witch's sobs were becoming clearer and louder now, and that wasn't necessarily a bad thing... Soon we'll be able to see if she's walking around, or just sitting there... I preferred it when they were walking, so then they usually got out of my way, thus leading to not having to edge around her... That really pissed her off, though...

"_C'mon, Ky!" Molly's desperate whispers were too loud for the Witch, and the female infected turned her head towards Molly, growling at her, stopping her sobs and showing us her scarlet eyes. Molly whimpered and moved away, not looking at the Witch. She settled down and returned to weeping uncontrollably into her hands. The red tint of her eyes still kept her in a bloody glow, making her menace triple in the darkness of the night. Goosebumps ran down my arms as Kyle took his first step around the Witch, towards us. He was the only one who hadn't yet passed her... And I couldn't blame him... Watching the others pass her, the woman's cries turning into growls as she slowly raised to her feet, was enough to put me off going around her, but I had to, to show Kyle that the Witch wasn't going to get up too quickly. The woman growled at him as he put his foot too close to her backside, very nearly catching her underwear under his trainers_._ He gasped and took a few steps back, waiting for the woman to settle, or for her to kill him. I tried not to scream as she fully got to her feet, knowing that any noise could set her off, but she eventually changed her mind, and sat back down, and I got the feeling she was watching Kyle's every move._

"_Lou, I'm scared," Kyle whined, taking another step past the Witch. The little light of the room reflected off the tear streaks on his face, making his face look glossy. His tussled hair stuck up at odd angles from running his hands through it in frustration and fear, and his chest was heaving as the fright of the situation constricted his throat, making it harder for him to breathe._

"_C'mon, hun, you can do it," I whispered back. The Witch growled at me, stopping me from giving moral support to Kyle. Wow... She _seriously_ did not like Kyle._

_There was silence as Kyle took a deep breath and edged around her once more, this time being careful not to tread to close to her behind. Molly broke the silence by whispering "It's like she doesn't want him to be safe... She doesn't want us talking to him..."_

_To which Mr Douglas replied, "It's like my last marriage, then."_

_Molly and I shook with suppressed laughter and Kyle's steps were becoming shaky. We were breaking his focus. "Douglas, shuttup!" I hissed, still snickering._

"_Ah, now _you _are being like my ex-wife..." Mr Douglas said, grinning. Although this joke wasn't as funny as the first, the relief from the tension of the situation made Molly give a full on burst of laughter. She clasped her hands over her mouth and kept her wide brown eyes on the zombie, who was now on her feet, arms outstretched, looking right at her. Her growls were getting higher pitched, and Kyle was right next to her right hand, so close that he could just stretch his fingers in forwards a bit and press a finger to her claws. He didn't, though. "Run," I murmured at her and Kyle._

_And they did._

The Witch couldn't catch them, obviously, and they were already safe behind the iron doors of the safe room when she caught up to them. I could hear her cries and screams all the way back, and we had to wait for her to give up on them... Which took quite a while... She absolutely _despised _Kyle, and she wasn't a big fan of Molly's either.

I felt a tap on my shoulder, and I was so lost in my thoughts, that I jumped, startled. I whirled around, aiming at him unintentionally, causing him to raise his hands in the air. "Woah, easy there, fireball," he sounded honestly worried. He placed the palm of his hand on the barrel of my shotgun, and pushed it to the side, so instead it was aiming over his shoulder. I noticed Ellis talking to Rochelle, and I ignored the green-eyed monster that was rampaging through my thoughts. Instead I focused on Nick. The way his steely expression looked relaxed and uncaring, but only when you looked in his small, piercing blue eyes, you could tell that he was probably the most scared person between the two of us, and that he cared more for the group's safety over his own well being. His face was lined and tired looking from stress and smoking, and his thin lips were, right now, pulled into an easy smile, making him look younger... more like the 30-odd year old he is, rather than the late-40's man he isn't. He towered over me, obviously over 6 foot, but he still seemed unsure about me, whether my presence was completely safe. "'You okay? What was with you back there? The last time I saw a woman _that _pissed off was at my wedding..." He seemed to fall into a reverie, smiling gleefully at something about his wife being pissed off at his wedding... What he was smiling at, I wasn't sure I wanted to know.

"I dunno..." I said, pulling him out of his memories. "I just get really defensive about my kid... Now more than ever, and I don't think Ellis meant to be mean and he wasn't trying to hit a nerve, but he just did... It must just be my time of the month, or something," I watched the horror become clear on Nick's face at 'woman problems', "You never really know unless you have kids. Y'know, the protective instinct-"

"I had a kid." Nick said, nodding. I furrowed my eyebrows at this revelation, "A daughter, Dylan. Her mother bit her... The stupid bitch... Dylan wasn't immune... I got there to hold her while she died... That's why I have no remorse in killing my ex. She killed the most important thing to me... I loved Dylan... and now... now none of her friends even know what's happened to her... Now I don't know whether some Goddamn zombie is digging her up from the makeshift grave I dug for her," Nick's eyes shone with the tears he was trying not to shed. He clamped his jaw shut, trying so hard not to cry. He shook his head and took a photograph out of his breast coat pocket. He handed me the picture. He's there with a little girl about the same age as Toby. Nick's holding him to her, kissing her cheek, and she looks like she's laughing, her arms around Nick's neck. I feel my eyes sting, but I blink away the tears.

"I'm so sorry, Nick. But at least she's at peace," I whisper, my voice cracking. I place a hand on his arm, trying to show him I understand. I out my hand in my bag and pull out the only picture I wanted to bring with me. It's one of Ben, Toby and I, all on my engagement party. Ben's kissing my cheek, I'm laughing, and Toby's on Ben's back, sticking his tongue out at the camera man. I have my left hand out, showing the diamond on my wedding finger. I hand Nick the picture, and he inspects it, smiling. He points at Ben, and asks "Who's this?"

I gulp back a sob and whisper, "Ben... My fiancé... This was taken at our engagement party... He's the reason I moved here after I had Toby."

"What happened to him? Is he with Toby?"

"I hope not... I had to kill Ben... I shot him. Right between the eyes, 'cause he _changed_... I loved him, though... With all my heart..." the tears started falling now. "And I- And I... I _killed _him... What if there's a cure? He would have lived, if I'd just let him kill me!" I began to cry, covering my face with my hands. Nick pulled me into his arms and hugged me, resting his chin on my head.

"I know... I know how it hurts..." he muttered into my hair. I pulled back enough to see his face, and I thought for a moment, he would kiss me... And in that moment, I _wanted _him to kiss me.

Oh, God! I'm turning into a slut!

I moved out of his arms quickly, obviously offending him. "Thank you, Nick. You've been a good shoulder to cry on... You're a good _friend_," I sniffed, drying my eyes with my sleeve. I took my photo off him, nodding and giving an apologetic smile as I turned and walked away.

I moved up, catching up with the rest of the team as they ducked beneath the iron gate.

"Poor food court never stood a chance..." Coach sighed as we passed the remains of it on our way past. I found myself giggling again... Oh, my God! What the hell was wrong with me?

"Holy shit..." Ellis muttered, looking dead ahead.

"What's wron- Jesus!" Nick was cut off as he looked in the direction Ellis was looking.

Then the loud cries really made it past the sounds around me.

I heard Kyle hyperventilating, and I put him behind me, walking round the corner to find a Walking Witch making her way towards us.

"Keep out of the bitch's way... Don't make eye contact... Don't even speak..." I ordered, being the first to get out of the Witch's path. She stopped walking as I moved past, and the others stopped breathing. "Okay... C'mon..." I headed up the escalator, and heard the rushed footsteps of people going past her. Eventually just Kyle and Molly were left down stairs. Molly took a step towards her, and the Witch looked up from her hands. The soft growls could be heard from where I was standing.

"Shit," Rochelle hissed.

Molly took another experimental step towards us, and the Witch lost it. Her scream ran through my body, turning my blood cold. I heard my screaming above the noise of gun shots, and I knew then that Molly was my family. I ran down the escalator in time to see the Witch barely miss Molly, but I watched as the Witch took another swipe, cutting into Molly's wrist. She cried out in shock and pain as the blood came spilling from the apparently deep cut. The Witch lifted her claws again, but I noticed the barrel of Kyle's shotgun resting against the back of her head.

"SHUT UP, BITCH!" Kyle yelled, and he pulled the trigger. The bang was followed by the sound of blood splashing against the floor, the walls, and our bodies. I looked at Kyle, who was breathing heavily and staring at Molly, who was covered in the blood and brains of the Witch. "I'm gonna be sick!" He retched, before turning away and puking all over the floor.

"Molly, are you okay?" I asked, kneeling beside her. I grabbed her wrist, and took a look at the cut. Shit, it was really deep. I took out my med kit, and began carefully but swiftly suturing it. She winced ever so slightly, but I knew it was better for her to be cared for in a painful way than letting her bleed to death. I _would not _let anyone die on me. Not anymore. "There, done," I say, wrapping her arm in a sling. I smile at her and help her to her feet. I led the others up the escalator, and to a partially broken down door.

"Guys, if we don't all get through here, and the last person to come through gets snagged by something, then that last person is _dead_," Rochelle pointed out, standing in our path. "I say we go in pairs."

We nod in agreement, and I help Molly over first, closely followed by Nick and Ellis, Kyle and Coach, and then only Mr Douglas and Rochelle were left. The only minor hiccup we'd had was watching an unsteady Rochelle try and pry a screaming Jockey off Mr Douglas' face, but she eventually did, and forced her axe down onto its head. After they got over the door, we had a long corridor, which was obscured by a lot of shit. Boxes and tipped over vending machines a-plenty, as Rochelle cheerily pointed out, and was replied with a sour Mr Douglas asking her why the hell we'd need them... Ever.

"I dunno, maybe for fun, to stop us losing our minds?" It's safe to say I want to punch Rochelle in the face... Maybe I'm just hormonal...

As we wandered down the corridors, we went into some of the rooms, and we found some really useful stuff. Adrenaline, ammo, guns, pain pills, pipe bombs, you name it. We filled our pockets, and just as we came out of the fourth room we'd entered, I heard a vile gurgling sound. "Oh, crap!" I groaned, opening the door for a Boomer. I got the full onslaught of the vile liquid that came shooting out of its mouth, but from the groans and complaints of the others, they'd been caught by it as well. I kept my eyes closed and slowly backed into the corner.

"Watch your backs. Get to a wall" I yelled. I heard them move round the room, and then I smelt the infected coming. Then I heard them. Then I could feel them kicking, scratching and biting at me. I took out my Desert Eagle and started shooting anything that came near me. I rubbed the puke off my eyes so they could finally open. There was blood all over the walls and the floor was covered by a thick carpet of corpses and blood. I looked at the others who were all holding their noses against the stench of the puke, and I walked over to them. "We'll have time to clean our clothes when CEDA save us. Let's go."

I ignored the grumblings and opened the final door in the corridor. It opened up into yet another storage room, but this one actually had some useful shit in it. It had boxes of clothes- baby clothes, but that's all they had-, water, food, and a few baseball bats. We grabbed what we needed, passing by a table piled high with ammo and pills and taking a few handfuls of each, and opened the door.

We were in a shop. A child's clothes shop, sans clothes. Looters had raided the shop, taking money, clothes, and even some of the displays. At the front of the shop, there was a large, glass window, looking back out into the mall.

"Are we gonna shoot the glass?" Molly asked, taking aim. Rochelle placed a hand on Molly's arm, stopping her from firing at the glass.

"If we shoot the glass, the alarms gonna sound," she warned, turning to face me for my take on the dilemma.

"Keith used to work here a few months back, but he ended up getting fired for sleepin' with his boss' wife, which isn't too bad, except that they were doin' some really-"

"Ellis? Your point?" Nick interrupted, sparing his-and my-ears by doing so.

"Oh, yeah," Ellis guffawed. "Y'all can turn the alarm off on the third floor."

I pondered this for a while. Well, shooting the glass would cause the alarm to sound, and that would be very loud, and loudness attracts zombies, and zombies cause pain, and pain means death, and death isn't at the top of my agenda for the day. But then again, this _was _the only way deeper into the mall... And we were only two flights away from turning the alarm off...

I lifted up my shotgun, and shot out a panel of glass. As expected, a shrill ringing began, and didn't stop.

"Let's go!" I yelled, and began running.

With some difficulty, and to my amazement, I made it to the control room first. I ran to the control panel, and flipped the switch. The alarm went off instantly. I waited for the others to come through the door. When I saw Ellis, I asked him where to go next.

"Well, uh, there's some graffiti on the wall there, Lou. If we follow that, we'll get to our next safe room," he gushed.

I turned round to see a rather crudely drawn house on the wall, with an arrow pointing out the door.

"Well we shall follow it then," I agreed, smiling at Ellis.

I led the way down another flight of stairs, into a large, empty room. I looked around. No. This isn't it, is it?

"Where the hell is CEDA?" Coach asked, obviously angry.

"They're gone. They've abandoned us." I whispered, and forced my way through the remaining zombies to the safe room

**I am really sorry that these are taking so long, and I'm glad that you're patient enough to wait. I decided to get this one over and done with before Christmas, so I shall start the next one in the New Year.**

**Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all!**

**xxx**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Dead Centre – Atrium

**The last part of Dead Centre. :)**

"So CEDA have completely abandoned us... What are we going to do?" Molly was the first of the distraught faces to speak, the rest being either to shy, scared or upset to mention the lack of help. I look up at her beautiful face, and I shrug. There's nothing else we _can_do. Molly looks annoyed. "We still have New Orleans. Why can't we go there?"

"Because we barely made it here without getting ourselves killed!" I snapped. It was true. Nick's chest was torn up; Rochelle's feet were burnt; Molly herself had a slit wrist, which was healing, and not bleeding so heavily anymore; Ellis had a recently repaired shoulder, which still pained him a little; and I had possible concussion. We were all so close to being killed at some point. There was no way we'd be able to just walk to New Orleans. We'd literally die.

"So we're just gonna give up?" Kyle asks me. I look at him. There are tear tracks running down his sweet, innocent face, and I want to lie to him. Tell him _'Don't worry, we'll find a way out of this' _but I can't give him false hope.

So I hang my head and say, "There's nothing more that we can do." My voice is no more than a whisper.

"You can't say that!" Molly cries, and the sudden loudness makes me jump. She looks at Ellis pleadingly. "Please, Ellis, tell me there's some way out of this. Keep bein' optimistic... Please?" Ellis took the trucker hat off of his head, freeing his cherubic sandy curls. He looked Molly straight in the eye, and said harshly, "We're screwed." Molly starts to cry.

The room is silent except for Molly's heart-breaking sobs, and when they subside to barely audible whimpers, the silence hangs around us like Boomer Bile, making the air harder to breathe.

Kyle finally moves, his body thawing out as he walks over to Molly to sit with her, and wrap his arms around her, comforting her. He lets his tears fall onto her hair as she cries into his chest. Eventually, Molly stops crying, and only jagged breathing can be heard.

I look at all my friends in turn. Coach, lying on his side, curled up into a foetal position; Rochelle, sitting up, with her knees tucked up against her chest, arms wrapped around them; Nick, sitting with his head in his hands, hiding his face; Mr Douglas, eyes closed, half-facing the wall; Kyle and Molly holding onto each other; and finally Ellis, trucker cap in hand, staring unblinkingly at the wall.

It was a picture of sorrow.

In the silence, I consider ways of suicide. They went from the simple – using our guns – to the creative – pouring Boomer Bile on our bodies, and letting the infected at us. Anything would be better than eventually losing our minds and starving to death. But I should really mention it to the others before killing myself and hoping they follow the lead.

"Hey, guys, I think we should-" I begin, but a merry yell stops me.

"Jimmy Gibbs!" Ellis' joy was seriously misplaced at a time like this. My thoughts turned to worry about Ellis' sanity when he leapt off the crate he'd been sitting on to point at the wall. I followed where his finger was pointing, and saw a large, colourful, blood stained and torn poster:

_Jimmy Gibbs Jnr._

_Get his autograph and a photograph with the stock car star and the stock car itself!_

_Only $25.00_

I read it over and over, tying to see why Ellis was so excited. Yeah, he was a fan of Jimmy Gibbs Jnr., but I doubt he'd give Ellis an autograph if he was zombified.

"Who's that?" Rochelle asked, probably trying to humour poor, insane Ellis.

"Jus' the best stock car racer of all time! Try readin' a book some time," Ellis said sarcastically.

"Jimmy Gibbs Jnr... Yay." Rochelle countered sardonically.

Ellis looked at us, his face bright with happiness. "Guys, don't y'all know what this means?" He asked. Our puzzled faces are his reply. He beams. "Guys, this means his car is _here_! Somewhere in _this mall_! All we need to do is find it, and we got ourselves an escape vehicle."

There was a couple of moments silence while we thought this over. Nick raised his head and said, "Sounds like a plan." He smiled at the boy who so clearly idolised him.

"So we're gonna leave this hell hole?" Molly whispered, smiling.

"Looks like it," I reply, smiling back.

"Well, c'mon! Let's go!" Rochelle cheered, leaping up and filling her pockets with more ammo.

The room was alive again. People were grabbing more guns, picking up baseball bats and cricket bats, which, to my annoyance, they all called a 'paddle'.

I watched Nick and Ellis argue over the last katana. Eventually, Ellis ripped the sword out of Nick's grasp. He laughed triumphantly in Nick's face.

"Give me the sword, Ellis," Nick didn't raise his voice, but he kept it low and deadly.

"Nah, I think I'll keep it," Ellis smiled cheekily, and at that moment, he reminded me of a naughty child who thinks he can get what he wants.

"Fine," Nick's thin lips pulled into a smile. "But I'm driving."

It took Ellis a while to understand what Nick was getting at, but when he did, he smiled again and laughed darkly. "Only if I get killed; otherwise, you better kill me, 'cause I'm drivin'"

"Gladly," he muttered darkly. Then he spoke up. "You have either the sword or the driver's seat, Ellis. Choose." Nick snapped. Ellis thought for a minute, before handing Nick the sword. I watched the impatience turn to disappointment on Nick's face. "What a fun road trip this'll be," he muttered sourly, going over to flirt with Molly, who was now being rather affectionate with Kyle. I smiled. Kyle had done right by her. I fully approved.

I watched Ellis for a while whilst he cleaned his guns. I got quite scared when he looked down the barrel, hoping to God he didn't accidently pull the trigger, but he didn't, so I could breathe again. He noticed me staring and smiled at me. That's when I realised just how much I liked him. I longed to kiss him, but I'd regret it. But if he died, I'd regret not kissing him, so why the hell not?

I closed the space between us, and kissed him fiercely for only a moment. When I pulled away, I noticed I'd knocked his hat to the floor. I bent down to pick it up, and as I got back up, I noticed Nick glaring at me over Molly's shoulder. I ignored him, and put Ellis' cap back onto his head. His cheeks were still rather red, and he wasn't focusing properly, but he looked happy nonetheless.

"If that's what happens when I think up good ideas, I'll use my brain more often," he grinned at me, before turning to face the group. "Um, okay guys... They don't fill up the cars until the car shows, so unless they were plannin' on using Jimmy Gibbs as an escape vehicle, we've gotta pray there's some gas here."

"Perfect," Nick groaned, but I wouldn't let that put me down. We'd come too far, and we were too lucky to die here.

"So we find the car, then we stay in the mall and die!" Rochelle's mock excitement was infuriating.

"We'll be fine, Young'ns," Coach opened the door, and we braced ourselves for the onslaught of teeth and nails, the battle between guns and pure inhuman strength. We waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Eventually, one stray zombie ran in. It was dead with one shot from the magnum.

"Where are all the zombies?" Rochelle asked, keeping her defensive posture.

"I dunno... There should be some..." Ellis replied, keeping his eyes and his aim locked on to the door.

"Maybe we killed 'em all...?" Mr Douglas wondered, moving a little, relaxing.

"We did kill a lot of them..." I agreed, following suit by dropping my arms to my side.

"Maybe there weren't that many people in the mall, after all," Rochelle took the feeling of safety even further by moving forward, so that she was in the small corridor outside the safe room.

We waited patiently for her to say something as we heard her footsteps grow quieter as she moved further away from safety.

Mere seconds had passed, before she screamed "OHMIGOD!" We ran to her, and for the second time that day, she was screaming out of happiness, not fear. "Oh, my God, guys, I found the car!"

"You couldn't just say 'Hey guys, I found the car'?" I asked, angry at her once more. I looked over the glass plate between me and the 30ft drop, and noticed our escape vehicle. "I don't think we'll all fit in that tiny thing..." I mutter, taking in the size of the compact car. Didn't Ellis say "she looked real big" before? Well, I shouldn't listen to him. He also thinks the car is a thing of beauty... I don't get what goes through the male mind sometimes.

"We'll get over that hurdle if we actually get the thing to work," Coach said to me as he walked towards the elevator that would take us to the ground floor.

Once we'd all packed ourselves inside the tiny elevator, we pressed the button with the 'G' on it. The elevator slowly descended.

"So, we found the car, and we found ourselves some gas, so-" Ellis began, but Kyle cut him off with a hand gesture.

"Wait, wait, wait... We found the car, sure, but we still haven't found any gas." Kyle contradicted.

Ellis looked confused. "What? Y'all mean you ain't seen the gas?" We shook our heads. "Christ, I feel like Einstein, me not usually being the sharpest knife in the drawer-"

"Shut it with the gloating, kid, and tell us: Did you see the gas," Nick's patience was wearing thin.

"Oh, yeah! There's gas cans dotted all over the place," Ellis grinned. "My guess is that they wanted to torch the mall before they left, but they didn't have the heart – or the time – to do so. Thank God!

Kyle punched the air with his fist, letting out an excited yell.

"Alright people, let's get some gas" Nick ordered as the doors opened.

The first few cans were easy to find, because they were all on the ground floor. Nick grumbled about the size of the tank, whilst Mr Douglas agreed and monitored the fuel gauge.

Ellis practically skipped towards us to pour in the third can, cooing "I'm gonna get to drive you _real _soon, girl."

_**Roar!**_

"Shit!" I cried, as a Tank came bursting through the boarded up doors of the mall

"Shoot that big mutha-!" Coach's yell was cut off by the Jockey jumping on his head. I knocked it off before it had time to lead Coach into the Tank's deadly path, and the thing skittered away, laughing hysterically until one of the Tank's large fists came down on it, squashing the tiny infected completely.

Bullets were being pelted at the Tank from all angles, barely giving it time to pick a target. Eventually, it collapsed, dead, the ground shaking as it crashed to the floor

Panting heavily, I turned to face my team. They all stared back at me, breathing heavier than I was, victory dancing in their eyes. I gave them a congratulatory nod, before splitting them in half.

"Okay!" I yelled over the snarls and cries of the infected that had been allowed in by the huge hole that was now where the doors used to be, "Ky, Douglas, Ro and I will stay down here and fill up the car with the fuel that you guys," I pointed towards Ellis, Nick, Molly and Coach, "will be going up stairs and throwing down to us. Good luck, no pressure."

And with that, we were off.

Several cans fell down at once, giving us all a chance to quickly fill up the car. Jimmy Gibbs' car was full before we even knew it.

"C'mon, let's go! The car's ready!" I hollered at the others, who were still searching for more cans. They couldn't hear me over the sound of infected and gunshots. I ran as fast as I could up the stairs to them, and caught up with Molly. "Come on, Moll! The car is ready! We _have _togo. Now!" She beamed and called the others, and then they followed me down the stairs, Ellis excited enough that he vaulted over the railing and almost broke his leg as he stumbled on the landing. Molly nearly tripped as she tried to push past Nick, but he caught her, and I knew that things had changed since only an hour ago. An hour ago, Molly would have fluttered her eyelashes, smiled, and probably kissed Nick on the cheek. Now, she gave a brief 'Thanks!' and pushed past him once more, trying not to trip over her own two feet and the dead bodies of the infected.

We ran towards the car, and Ellis was waiting patiently to get in, but then we heard yet another almighty roar as another Tank joined us in the Atrium. I let out a heavy sigh as I decided we had to kill it first so it didn't smash our getaway car with its massive, meaty hands.

I began shooting at the monster infected, but I soon realised I was out of ammo. "Shit! I'm out!" I declared, backing away.

"Me too!"

"Same here!"

"Bullshit! I had a full Goddamn clip not five minutes ago!"

The whole team seemed to be out of bullets, and there was no fresh ammo lying around, so we were basically screwed. I was about to yell at them to run to the car and bail as quick as possible, when Kyle piped up. "I still got a full gun!" the teen scrambled up the side of a little stall, so he was level with the tank. He aimed his auto-shot at the head of the rampaging beast. I knew what he was doing, but I didn't think he'd say his next words:

"Hey! Asshole! Come get me!"

The creature turned, and ran at him, roaring furiously.

"Kyle! No!" I screamed, and refused to watch, closing my eyes and looking away

When I heard the bang of the gun, I open my eyes, and watch as the Tank drops dead, blood and brains splattered over the tiled floor. Kyle looked fearless, looking down at the dead Tank. "That's what you get, bitch."

I help him down off the stall, and then slap him across the head lightly. "You complete and utter _fool_! That thing could have killed you, and you stand there _provoking_ it?" I grunt angrily. "And don't swear!"

"Sorry," Kyle looked taken aback. What? Did he want me to congratulate him or something? He was stupid! "Now can we go?" He asked. He didn't wait for a reply, he just walked off, and the others followed.

Angry, I lagged behind a bit, and took a few deep breaths, trying to calm myself before I hit the cocky little sod. I closed my eyes, and began feeling a little guilty. Kyle must have been so scared up there, and he only wanted to help, and he did do a very good job. It was the quickest we'd ever dealt with a Tank, and all I did was yell at him and hit him. No wonder he acted cheeky. I underappreciated him. I had to apologise.

As I began to move towards the car, I felt something slimy wrap around my waist. Before my mind had a chance to register what was going on, the tongue was wrapped around most of my body – including my neck – and was slowly crushing me as it dragged me back. My arms were trapped, so I couldn't pull it away from my throat, so breathing was difficult.

The Smoker stood on the third floor, and it was coughing as it lifted me off the ground. I tried to scream, but I could barely breathe.

"K-Kyle!" I managed to yell out. His head popped out the car, and he noticed me. Yelling, he tumbled out the car and ran for me.

"Louise! I'll save you!" He stopped to take aim, and that's when I heard it.

A horrible shriek was heard, and it froze the blood in my veins, because at this moment, no one really knew whether to get out and help, so they were all standing by the car.

I tried to warn him, but I couldn't. I tried to tell him to run and save himself, but the tongue around my neck was stopping me from speaking. I could only watch as the Hunter landed on him, pinning his body to the floor, and tore a long line down from the base of his neck, to the waistband of his jeans, slicing through fabric ad flesh, as scarlet blood poured out. He screamed for help, and as my vision got cloudy and my head span, I noticed Ellis running towards us.

_He'll be fine. He'll live. _My mind told me. _But _you_ on the other hand, are screwed._

Soon, everything went black, and I could no longer hear screams.

**Okay, so it is taking a long time, but that's the first campaign over and done with. I apologise for the lack of chapters being uploaded, but I'm having a fairly rough time at the moment. Things are getting better, though, so I shall be putting up the next chapters soon :)**

**Please review. Reviews make me happy.**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"Lou! Please! Help! Help me!" Kyle's voice pleaded. I spun around in the darkness, trying to find some speck of light, of hope. The pitch black was strangling me, the fear keeping me rooted to the spot.

"Kyle!" I managed to scream out. "Kyle! Where are you?" He let out a pain filled cry, and I shrieked back in response.

"Lou!" The voice was different. Deeper. Familiar. I couldn't put my finger on it, but I knew deep down who owned that voice. "Lou! Please! Don't let him die! Don't let our boy lose his mommy."

Ben.

"Ben!" My voice was filled with pure fear. This was just a dream. Kyle wasn't lost in the darkness. I was just sleeping, and it was a horrid nightmare, brought on by killing all those innocent people.

"Mommy," A young voice whispered.

My eyes snapped open, and I started awake. My hands were shaking, and I felt the tears pouring down my cheeks. My torso ached when I moved. I gasped out as I tried to use my arms to lift myself up.

"Hey, don't move too much, honey." I heard Mr Douglas whisper. I felt his large hand on my head, stroking my hair, soothing me. "You're probably still very sore. How are you feeling?"

"Tired," I replied. I relaxed into the hand combing through my hair, and sighed. Just a dream. Just a dream.

But something didn't feel right.

"Tired? You slept for a day," the old man chuckled, but then his smile fell, and he looked at me, his eyes searching mine. "Are you sure you're alright?" He asked. His hand left my hair.

I sighed and laughed at his persistence. "Yes! I'm fine," I went to laugh some more, but something in his dark eyes told me that he was serious, and that he was worried. "Why? What happened?" I started to panic. Had they found Toby, dead in a ditch somewhere? Had Ellis been horrifically injured? Had something bad happened to _me_? Then something clicked at the back of my mind, and the horrible memory hit me:

"_Kyle!" Molly was screaming at the top of her lungs. "No! Kyle, no!" She began crying. I felt my eyes flutter open, but my vision was swimming, and everything was just colourful blurs. I tried taking in a deep breath, but the throbbing ache in my chest told me to keep it shallow. I watched as the shape that was sobbing – obviously Molly – bent down over a – what is that? It was just a big red blob. Shapeless._

"_Louise?" I heard Ellis clearly, even over Molly's heartbroken sobs, as he was screaming. I saw his shape moving rapidly towards me. "Louise!" I could tell he was hovering over me know, as his voice was in my ear, and his breath was on my face. "Not dead. She's not dead... Is she?"_

_I felt large fingers on my neck, and I took in a sharp intake of breath as they pushed down on the painful area were the tongue had been constricting me. "No," Coach. He removed his fingers from my neck. "She's alive. Just."_

_A devastated shriek ripped through the air, and I saw a grey haired shape pull the Molly figure away from the red mess on the floor. Why did she want to get to the mess so much? Was it important? I tried to remember, but I kept coming up blank._

_I felt large hands reach under my body, and I heard myself whimper as they lifted me up, and carried me towards a blue box: the car._

_I saw a white shape move towards us. It looked like an angel. I tried to reach out and touch the angel, but I couldn't get my arms to move. That wasn't good._

"_Is she...?" The angel had a rough voice, and it was definitely a man. _

"_No. She's alive, but we need to get her out of here." Coach replied, and I saw the angel relax a bit._

"_What about the kid? Kyle?" The angel asked._

"_Nick, if you can't see that he's had his insides ripped out, I think you need to have your eyes checked out," Coach snapped. He sighed, and shifted as he struggled with my weight. "Sorry. I just... He was a kid... My daughter is his age, and that's not something I want to see..."_

"_I understand," I wasn't fooled anymore. This was no angel; it was Nick, and I had no trouble with the differences now. "Here. Give her to me. You go... Deal... With the body."_

_My body was passed between the two men, and I felt the smooth fabric of Nick's suit against my cold skin, and I moved so I was more comfortable in Nick's strong arms. He walked me the rest of the way to the car, and I could hear him whispering, but if he was talking to me, I wasn't listening._

"_Is she-?" I heard Rochelle as we got nearer to the car._

"_She's not dead." Nick didn't sound in the mood for Rochelle at the moment. He pushed past her._

"_What about Kyle?"_

"_He's been ripped apart," Nick didn't sound like he cared. "You can't even tell it's him anymore, pore son of a bitch. He just looks like a huge, bloody mess."_

I shot up, trembling, tears streaming down my face, as I remembered the Hunter tearing apart my youngest friend, his screams. But Ellis got to us, didn't he? He should have saved Kyle. Maybe he was too late. Maybe the damage had already been done.

Rochelle, Molly, and Nick all woke up, and I noticed that I was lying on them. I looked at them: Rochelle looked understanding, Nick looked tired, and Molly... Molly just didn't look like Molly at all. Her eyes were bloodshot, but there were no more tears. Her hair looked bedraggled, and her skin was pale. But her appearance wasn't what scared me. It was her eyes, past the redness, they were empty. Nothing lay behind them. She'd lost her happiness, her bubbly personality, but the scariest part was there was no more fight in those brown eyes.

She'd given up. There was nothing left for her to live for anymore.

"Where's Kyle?" I asked. I watched Molly flinch, and Nick's eyes dropped, and my shoes were suddenly oh-so interesting.

"There was nothing we could do." Mr Douglas sounded sad, and he started rubbing my back, trying to calm me.

"He can't be dead," I whispered. They ignored me.

Molly started shaking, and emotion filled her eyes. "That's not fair... How can someone so young, so _good_ die like _that_?"

"He's not dead," I said it louder, but everyone was focused on Molly, as she lost that flash of emotion in her eyes, and her tone turned trance like. It was steady and slow, but there was no feeling behind the words.

"He was so bloody." She didn't care that no one wanted to remember, and I didn't want to know, so she continued. "All that blood. It was everywhere. On the floor. On my clothes. Even on my hands." She looked at her hands, as if she could still see the boy's blood on her palms. "It just wasn't where it was supposed to be: in his body."

I couldn't speak. My stomach was doing somersaults, and I knew that if I had something in my stomach, it would now be all over the back of the car. Nick, also looking pale, put an arm around Molly, and white-hot fury ripped through me. He was jumping into Kyle's place already, was he? The kid hadn't been dead long, and here Nick was, trying to get to Molly.

Molly didn't move, so I couldn't tell whether she liked him touching her or not, but he took it as a good sign to continue to 'comfort' her. He made me sick.

"Its okay, Moll. I understand what you're going through," he didn't. "I'm here for you," if you want to 'talk' that is. "I'm gonna miss him as much as you, but we all have to let go –"

"Kyle. Is. Not. Dead!" I yelled into the confined space of the car, causing Nick to shut his stupid mouth. Molly lifted her head, and looked at me with _pity_. Did _Molly_, the girl who builds her life on false hopes and beliefs, pity me for not believing them? "He's only a kid. You're all just playing a sick joke on me, you bastards!"

Yes, I was aware I sounded harsh, childish, and even a little (a lot) crazy, but I couldn't let them say he was dead. I couldn't allow myself to believe their lies.

Mr Douglas fished around in his pockets for a moment, and then he found something long and thin. It glittered when the light that was on in the car hit it, and I could see that it was dark and dull in places. He handed me it, and I realised it was a chain. I remembered seeing it around Kyle's neck a couple of times, and he never removed it.

"Why are you giving me Kyle's chain?" I asked, and I looked at it closer, and I noticed the dark patches on the gold were dark red. Blood red, in fact.

"Remember," Mr Douglas' voice wavered slightly, and I could see tears in his eyes, "when we were all sitting in that first safe house with just us four and I said '_I can see us lasting longer than the rest of those dipshits_'?" I nodded; I remembered it well. "I was right, wasn't I? We lasted so much longer without those poor bastards around. But you brought up the fact that if you died, we would have to get there and give your son that photograph of his family. That brought us on to what we wanted to happen if we died in battle. You were so stubborn; you wouldn't even accept the possibility that something would go wrong. I said as long as you saw your son, I would be happy. Molly has her Mom's ring, and she wants that to get back to her. Kyle, he had this," he closed my hand around the chain, "and he wants his Dad to have it. We have to get that back to him, now."

I was silent as I stared at the chain, and I could feel the tears pour out of my eyes. The chain felt heavy in my hands, and some of the blood smeared onto my hands, and I could feel the ache in my chest.

I mumbled something about needing air, and I clumsily fell out of the car, apologising as I heard the gasps and hisses, protesting against me putting my weight on wounds and injuries, and on places that would normally hurt. I forced open the door, and I took in a gulp of the fresh air as it hit my face. The coldness of the air made the tears that leaked out of my eyes feel freezing against my warm skin. I made sure I walked far enough away from the car, so I could allow my sobs to grow louder. I was holding onto the chain so tight, that it was starting to break the skin, but I didn't care. Kyle was my friend, and in this time, having friends was hard, but I thought that he'd be safe. I thought I could keep him safe.

But I was wrong.

Now he's dead, and all I have to remember him by is this chain. I shook as I wept harder, the pain overwhelming.

I heard footsteps behind me, and I knew that if it was one of the infected, they wouldn't be so quiet. I turned around to face the person, and felt my cheeks grow hot as I noticed it was Ellis. How long had he been stood there?

"You okay?" he asked, not really looking me in the eye. I smiled and nodded, lying to both of us. He looked me in the eye then, frowning, and asked, "Really?"

I turned my nod into a shake, and I felt my face crumple. Wrapping my arms around him, I began crying heavily into his shoulder, which stank of sweat and death. And smoke.

"Ellis," I regained control of my sobs enough to speak again. "Did you... Deal with his body?" I looked at his face.

His eyes were tortured as I looked into them, until they closed, and he nodded. "We burnt him." He said it as if he was ashamed, but he shouldn't be. Burning was the most respectful way to 'deal' with the dead. We couldn't bury them, because we still didn't know whether the zombies will just dig up the bodies for lunch. If we had time, we'd usually have a make-shift funeral as the body burnt, but I didn't like that. You could smell the burning flesh. You could watch the skin char.

I shuddered and pictured Kyle, burning to a crisp, and I heaved at the imaginary smell. Ellis cautiously held me at arm's length, and waited until he was sure I wasn't going to throw up over him before he pulled me closer for a hug.

"Kyle shouldn't be dead." I mumbled into his chest. "He was just a baby." I tried to remember what my last words were to him, and I wailed in anger and devastation. "The last words I'd said to him were about his use of profanity." I pressed my face against his chest and screamed at myself. "I am such a _bitch_!"

"I'm so sorry Lou... I really am." Ellis whispered into my hair. I caught my breath.

"It's not your fault" I reassured him, smiling at him; he was really too sweet.

"It is. I shoulda saved him first."

"It's oka- What?" I pulled back to look at his face. He wasn't looking me in the eye again. "What do you mean?"

"I shouldn't have saved you first." His words all fell out in a rushed confession. "You'd have been fine another few minutes, so I should have shot that _thing_ off of Kyle before I shot the Smoker's tongue."

I felt myself shake. Ellis had saved me first? But Kyle was bleeding _to death_! Was he out of his freaking mind? "How dare you! That little boy is _dead_ because of you, Ellis!" I pulled out of his embrace and stormed off towards the car. I heard his rapid, heavy footsteps behind me as he chased me. He grabbed my wrist, and tried to hold me back.

Pulling my hand away from his, I spun round so that my face was centimetres from his. "Listen here, you little shit. You stay the hell away from me or I swear to God I'll -" My threat was cut short by Ellis' mouth on mine, trying to bring me back to him. His arms held me close and they were tight, stopping me from moving away. I screamed into his mouth, but he didn't let go. I beat my hands against his chest, but he didn't get the picture. I raised my hand, and with as much force as I could muster, I slapped him right across the face, so that he staggered back, half from pain, and half from shock. "Keep away from me Ellis. I can make your death look like an accident." I growled at the traitor in front of me.

I'd never threatened to murder someone before, but Ellis made me so _angry_!

What scared me, was how much I meant it.

I wanted Ellis to die.

I trudged back to the car, threw open the door, and climbed in. I avoided everybody's wide-eyed stares as I lay across them in the seating arrangement which made awkward situations that little bit more awkward.

After standing outside for a good 10 minutes, Ellis got back in the car. His eyes were red, as was the hand shaped print on his cheek. He glared at the open road in front of us as he started the car. The rumble of the engine made the car vibrate, and the growling didn't stop.

Coach was the first to speak, gingerly asking, "So how we getting to New Orleans?"

Ellis didn't look at him, but smiled darkly at the road. "I wanna go past a place I used to go to as a kid." Carefully, I watched his eyes dart to a sign that said '_Whispering Oaks Amusement Park- 900 miles'_.

Well, this was going to be a long journey...

**Next stop, Whispering Oaks! I'm trying to get these out quickly, 'cause I don't want to be writing these for the next couple of years, and I'm sure you guys don't want to be reading them that long either :)**

**Please review!**


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